Sometimes Parasites Aren't the Worst Thing in the World
by Pinkbowbunny
Summary: Gave up on the title, and, not gonna lie, total PWP here. I mean there is plot, but, it's mostly porn. M/F, Data/3 OCs and later Data/Tasha and Tasha/Geordi, AU where Tasha is still alive. While on a mission Tasha and her crew are infected with a deadly parasite, and only Data can help them out. I know it's been done but oh well. Hope you enjoy and if you do please review!
1. Virgin Punk

(( Hey guys! Total Trek-Newb here! I just started watching TNG on Netflix recently and I love it so far, especially Data, so I was inspired to write this. Please go easy on me, though, I'm not used to writing for the Sci-Fi genre. Also this fic is an AU where Tasha never died, bc fuck killing off strong female characters and doing nothing with their characters besides making them rape victims, ugh. Anyways! I've also been made aware that this "sex or death" trope is really overdone, but I hope you like my take on it anyways. Also this fic is het-centric and has a few OCs, though I have no problem with slash, that's just not the focus of the fic this time. I do try to write interesting OCs though, so hopefully you like them well enough. And though I tried to do my research, if anything flies too far in the face of canon, please just consider it part of the AU, lol... Alright! Without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy~ ))

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A distress signal had come from a planet far out in the Delta Quadrant, and upon inspection the planet, they found the small life-bearing planet had absolutely no abnormal qualities, no noxious substances in the atmosphere, no apparent attacks from hostile neighbors, nothing… Except that it was missing at least half of the life-forms that should have been there.

There were some skeletons still about by the time the Enterprise had gotten there, but the dominant humanoid species had been completely wiped out, and from the looks of it, the entire planet had been robbed and ransacked afterwards.

Several of their livestock species had been taken, several of their forests completely sawed down and the lumber taken, no doubt the mines had been excavated, anything of use had been taken from the previously occupied buildings, and the skeletons all had claw and tooth marks on them, so obviously they had been eaten…

The crew members that had beamed down to inspect it, a team of four female officers and one male, led by Tasha Yar, were just starting to notice that the skeletons in the worst shape, with the most bite marks and unnatural-looking breaks, seemed to be almost all female skeletons, when suddenly one of the female officers present, a little lady who was almost still fresh out of the academy, doubled over with a great cramping pain in her stomach.

Her friend, a woman just a few years older than her, came near to help her, but soon found herself extremely dizzy and nauseous, and she soon also doubled over, throwing up on the ground. A dark haired woman in her thirties was the third to be affected, clutching her head with a sudden ache and then feinting into a deep sleep. Tasha, the last to feel her own cramping starting to come on, quickly alerted the ship of what was happening, and had them beamed to the quarantine zone.

The lone male officer seemed more or less fine, and after the initial symptoms wore away, the females did too, at first. Of course they were still kept in the quarantine for further testing, and it was soon discovered that every member of the team that had come in contact with the planet had contracted a virus.

Well, the lone lucky male just had a virus. To be specific, by the time they found out what it was, which wasn't that long at all, the virus in the female's bodies had mutated into a parasite, which was now living quite comfortably in the spot between the cervix and the uterus, and despite their shock and horror at learning this fact, each and every female complained of feeling abnormally aroused. Much, much more aroused than any of the females had ever reported being before, in their entire lives. Maddeningly aroused, to the point where, even though the women still had their presence of mind, their bodies were in a constant state of betrayal to how they actually felt about it.

Doctor Crusher gathered a meeting of the top officers to discuss what she had learned about the situation in the past few hours, and clearly by the bags under her eyes and the way she was rubbing her forehead, harshly and agitated, she didn't like the results of her research one bit. "Well, I've found a cure…" She admitted right away, with no enthusiasm in her voice. This was a 'good news first' kind of day…

"And?" Captain Picard urged her on. "Have you already administered it…?"

Crossing her arms, she sighed raggedly. "No sir, because that's the part of the equation that presents the biggest problem…"

Picard merely raised a brow at her, urging her to go on.

Swallowing at a lump and cheeks flushing with color, Crusher tightened her self-embrace, almost feeling as much anxiety for the women's fate as they were. "The male officer has already been cured, so we know the serum works. But the vaccination alone did not succeed in destroying the parasite in the females, and I'm afraid those tricky little sons-of-guns aren't going to make things easy on us… At least we're lucky enough to have a serum at all, unlike the poor former inhabitants of the planet. The entire male population was rendered infertile and then quickly killed off by the virus, passed along by carrier females. Before the species that left their young here to gestate came back to claim their children and the planet's resources, the females suffered the horror of being impregnated by the parasite and then eaten alive from the inside-out, which will also happen to our female officers unless we destroy the parasite soon. But in order to expose the parasite to the serum, we'd either have to perform an extremely drastic and dangerous surgery on each of the women, or… We could do things the infinitely safer but infinitely more awkward way, and… Expose the parasite to the serum by inserting it into the females manually, and stimulating the females vigorously to assure the serum reaches the cervix and uterus... O-Of course!" She added quickly, seeing how the men's brows immediately reached for the skies. "Since no one, male or female, will be able to get anywhere near them without being infected with either the virus or another parasite, that'll have to be our first concern…"

There was a long and heavy silence. But no more than a minute had gone by before Data had finished deducing the facts in his mind, and posited forth the most logical conclusion he could think of to the rest, "I believe I know the best solution to this problem. If the least traumatic way of administering the serum to the patients is in this manner, and we need someone immune to the virus and the parasites, then I am the most and, really, the only one suited to the undertaking… Am I not?" He followed, when presented with the shocked stares that his query resulted in.

The first to find their voice was Picard, whose mouth had hung just slightly ajar until he could find the words, "Data," He choked out gruffly, "I understand you would come to the most logical assumption here, as you would always do in any situation. But this is far more complicated than just logic…"

Data nodded. "Yes sir. But I had already anticipated that. I realize that the nature of this task is not merely medical, but sexual and extremely intimate. Of course the officers are completely free to refuse the manual administration and opt for surgery instead, but either way, it would have to be me to do it, would it not? So as not to risk exposure to any other crew members? I just thought it would be best to offer the most comfortable and least traumatic option as well. I could even deliver the serum from my own body if it were preferred by the patients..."

Again, there was a considerable silence. And then, a snort. "Hoo boy…" LaForge suddenly snickered, then let out a sigh of amazement. "Data, Data, always so helpful, always so willing to help mankind…" He seemed mostly amused, but also just slightly agitated?

Unsure, but also unsure as to why he or the others were unsure, Data hesitated before trying again, "I am afraid I fail to see how—"

Riker cut him off there. "How pleasing a woman, no matter what kind of tool you're working with, is more than just an algorithm?"

Data reminded him neutrally, "I do have some experience with it, sir…"

Riker had to shrug at that. "Fair point, I suppose…" He didn't bother reminding Data of what he surely already put together for himself – That having one experience and four experiences back to back were worlds apart…

"Captain, if I may," Doctor Crusher cut in there. "Data's offer, although certainly unorthodox, is really quite fortuitous given the dire circumstances. As he said, the women are free to choose whatever option they feel most comfortable with, or refuse treatment completely. But at the very least, we should let the patients know that Data has offered to make this option available for them. I'm sure they'll know that Data is not the kind of man that would have selfish intentions for this kind of thing. He literally can't have those sort of selfish intentions. And of course everything that happens will be kept in 100% confidentiality…"

Picard sat thinking about it for a while, tight lipped and not entirely sure. But finally, after thinking on it for a short while, he nodded. "Then I suppose we'll go ahead and inform the patients of what all their options are…"

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So they did, and after explaining all of the circumstances, all four of them hesitantly agreed that at the very worst, Data's suggested procedure still had to be better than the kind of death they soon had in store for them. After that, Data was further informed by Doctor Crusher as she prepared him before the event, with Captain Picard present as support and encouragement, even though Data told him he did not need it.

"As I mentioned, Captain – I do already have some experience with this…"

Picard very rarely showed signs of disrespect, but he had to roll his eyes at that. "Data… You have experience with an intoxicated woman, while you were intoxicated yourself. I assure you this will be a whole different beast entirely…" He quickly cleared his throat and by extension, any objections Data would likely present about the functionality of his sexuality program. "Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt that you can do it, but you can't just treat every woman the way Tasha had you do, because every woman is different, and will have different needs and desires."

"Quite so." Doctor Crusher agreed, cheeks already pink as she brought over a tray bearing four special instruments. Data's special new 'instruments'…

Each was custom designed to personally fit the body of each respected woman. It would not do at all for the piece to be too small, in fact, each tool was made to be just slightly larger than the ideal size for each woman's vaginal canal, to insure that the serum would reach as deep as possible, even if Data was unable to induce orgasm in them.

"All the same, I truly do not anticipate that being an issue." Data insisted after the doctor explained it all to them. "The motions needed to complete sexual stimulation are exceedingly simple and so repetitive as to be dull…"

But Picard was quick to contradict him on the matter once again. "Data. I know this seems like an exceedingly simple job. I know you already know that you must listen attentively to every woman's personal instructions. But that's not all there is to it…"

"Captain, please." Crusher cut him off there. "I know you're just worried about him. But there's no point in worrying more than necessary. I'm sure he can't do too badly, but even if not, we don't really need Data to be the perfect bed-mate. It would just be nice for the patients and make the application of the serum more effective. If he can't, it's still fine. The medication is combined with nanotechnology that will seek out the parasite, so it should work as long as it is as close to the cervix as possible…"

Data nodded in acknowledgment, and bowed his head. "I will try my very best for complete success with all four patients."

With a tense nod, the doctor put down the tray of 'tools', each neatly labeled with the woman's name below it, on the cot next to the android. Next to each name was also a short list of instructions to start off each individual encounter. "I'm sure you will, Data. Now… I guess we'll just leave you to it!"

"Good luck, Data." Picard added with a reluctant little smirk, before following the doctor out of the room, and giving Data some privacy to prepare.

Wasting no time, Data stepped up to and picked up the first of the specially prepared tools, really just a glorified, if very technologically advanced and life-like vibrator, except for the fact that it contained a life-saving serum inside.

It was the smallest of the four tools the doctor had designed for him and her patients, Data noted before picking up the instructions that went with it, and reading it silently to himself.

'Shaunella Smithee. Age 24. Shaunella is still relatively young and completely inexperienced with sex. She is what is known as a 'Virgin', and is very concerned and distressed about that fact in regards to the procedure. She has stated that she wanted her first sexual encounter with another person to be with someone very special to her. Therefore she has hesitantly agreed, but only under the condition that this be regarded strictly as 'Medically Assisted Masturbation', and has opted for application by hand only. She would like you to also not regard this as any sort of intimate act, because she wants to reserve that for the person she chooses to take her virginity. She is also nervous about your superhuman strength, but I have assured her that you are capable of being as gentle as she needs you to be.'

Filing away the information, Data put down the instrument and the instructions, and then began to inspect the next set. The next piece was larger than the others by two full inches, and visibly thicker too. The other models were also smooth to the touch, but this one was made with a bumpy texture. He didn't pick up the tool this time though, only the instructions.

'Madison Paz-Warren. Age 34. Unlike Shaunella, Madison is considerably experienced. She has had several lovers in her lifetime and so she is not worried at all about the nature of the procedure. She is, however, less than pleased about you being the one to perform it. She is not enthusiastic about being sexually stimulated by an android. She believes that you won't be able to please her like an organic lover. She does not expect you to be capable of inducing orgasm in her, however, she did add, 'Feel free to try if you think you can'.'

Without any feelings about the insulting and/or doubtful sentiments so far, Data simply put down the last slip of paper and reached for the third.

'Kembyr Goodwin. Age 29. Seems the most sensitive of the first three to your android state, she has no quarrels with that. She is also not a virgin, although she has stated that she has very little experience with sex and relationships in general. So she is slightly apprehensive about it, but like Madison, she has opted for the more intimate form of administrating the serum. She has stated that she would prefer if you could try to "just make it feel as natural as possible", and that she will work with you during the process as much as she can… Data, as a personal note, even though Madison and Kembyr both chose the intimate applications, due to her apprehension, you should treat Kembyr more gently. So keep whatever settings you use with her closer to what you used with Shaunella, unless otherwise instructed by Kembyr.'

He put down the third set of instructions, briefly noting that the size and shape of the third piece and the fourth were almost exactly the same. The one meant for Tasha was just very slightly shorter. The instructions for her read, 'Well… She said to 'Just talk to her' and to 'Tell him we'll probably just do whatever we did last time…' So I suppose you and her would know more about all that than I would…?'

For no particular reason that he could guess at, Data found himself re-reading the last message before putting it back down. It held no extra information, he had understood the contents, and yet, it somehow gave him a sense of confusion, like there was a puzzle piece that should be present, but which was missing.

But he didn't let it trouble him, for now he had much more urgent matters to attend to...

Taking the first model with him in hand, he set out for the first of the quarantined rooms. After making it past the sterilization process, he found himself in the company of a somewhat short (5'3, Data measured) and petite young lady, brown-skinned with long, wavy golden hair on one side of her scalp, while the other side was shaved bald, with beautiful swirling-patterned tattoos traditional to her people drawn onto the bald side. Her eyes were dark grey, nearly black, and wide with nervousness and fear as he stepped into the room.

He quickly stopped advancing and put his free hand up in a gesture of peace. "Please do not be alarmed. The doctor has informed me of your preferences. We will wait until you are ready to begin. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to aid in your comfort?"

She slowly shook her head, stepping back towards the cot behind her and taking a seat. "I… I have had a pap smear a few times before, so, I guess I'm not completely unprepared for this, but…"

Data nodded. "Very well then. Let me know when you are ready."

She nodded back, scooting back further onto the cot until she was reclining. Then, after a brief hesitation, she reached down to the hem of her pants… And hesitated again. "Oh man… This is so dumb…"

Data quirked a brow. "Is something the matter?"

She seemed to struggle for a few seconds, before forcing herself to shake her head no. "Not… Not really, I mean… I know you're just here to help, that this is completely for medical purposes, I just… I'm just shy I guess. Just gotta get over it, and get this over with…"

Forcing herself past the barrier of her modesty, she finally pushed down her trousers and undergarments, quickly and in one fluid moment, before bunching them up and throwing them to the side, leaving her top on. Quickly after she brought her knees up to her chest, her feet together in front of her genitals, and, with crimson cheeks, averted her eyes to the side of the room that Data wasn't occupying.

Blinking a few times, the android studied her behavior and current stance, unable to make much sense of it. "Were you ready to proceed now?"

Without another word, she nodded.

But now it was Data's turn to hesitate, since the young lady's current behavior seemed obviously at odds with what she was telling him to do…"Miss Shaunella, I am unsure if I can continue with the procedure with you in this position... I believe it would be more comfortable for you if you would, perhaps, spread your legs apart…?"

Sighing, she took up her shaking hands and put them on each knee, appearing to have to actually pry her own legs apart until she was exposed in a butterfly position. Then she crossed her arms and sighed, refusing to make eye contact with him. But the sigh at least was a gentle one, and soon after she admitted, "Look, I'm sorry, I don't wanna look like a jerk, it's just… Man this is so embarrassing…"

Pulling a small tube from his pocket, Data applied a liberal amount of clear gel onto the head of the instrument. Afterwards he replaced the tube into his pocket and remarked, "I have never felt embarrassment, but I am at least vaguely aware of why humans avoid it. But remember that everything that transpires here will be held in complete confidentiality. I will never speak of it to another human being, ever."

His calm voice seemed to lull her and neutralize at least some of her worries, and she settled back against the hospital cot, finally glancing over at him. "I mean, I guess I can trust you, since… You look so bored, it's like, why would you want to bother telling anyone about this anyways…"

"Your conclusion is correct." Data confirmed for her, then asked once more. "Now, are you ready to begin?"

"I guess… I mean, yes. Sure. Go ahead…" She told him, but as soon as he had come within a few inches of her privates, she suddenly gasped, and shut her legs again, like a venus fly trap. "Wait!"

It was a good thing Data was incapable of being annoyed, but he was coming close to getting a little impatient. There were other patients to attend to, after all, including his dear old friend Tasha, who had heroically opted to go last to ensure the safety of the other women before her own. She was counting on him to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible. So Data responded merely by looking to her for clarification, and not saying anything further. The girl seemed to be confused and at odds with herself, so Data waited silently for her to sort out her thoughts and her words, not wanting to confuse her further.

"You…" She finally looked up at him then with an audible gulp, her eyes searching out his. "You like music, right?"

He blinked, and nodded, not sure why she was bringing it up. "Yes. I enjoy listening to and playing music. Why?"

"I was just thinking…" She mentioned, grasping her knees. "That it might be less awkward for us both if we put on some music. To distract me. Unless it will be too distracting for you. Do you think you'd mind…?"

Immediately Data shook his head no. "I will still be able to perform my duties with music playing, so I do not have any objections to your request. If it makes you more comfortable then play anything you like. My preferences are completely negligible."

"Well, okay then… She agreed hesitantly, with a small amount of guilt. The she focused her attention, and her eyes, upwards as she asked, "Computer, can you please play… Play 'Daft Punk', circa twenty-first century Earth?"

After just a few seconds to process the request, suddenly a half upbeat, half mellow type disco music with robotic-sounding lyrics began to play within the room, and as soon as it did, the girl finally began to relax against the back of the hospital cot again, and slowly spread her legs. "Okay… I think I'm ready now, sir… Go ahead, and, um… Sorry for the nerves…"

Data briefly shook his head to dismiss her apology, "Your comfort is top priority. There is nothing to be sorry for. Now, are you sufficiently mentally prepared, and if so, may I begin preparing your body for the procedure? I have been instructed to be as gentle as possible with you, and I am fully prepared to do so. I hope you are assured that I will not hurt you."

Finally letting her legs fall to the bed, she nodded weakly. "Oh… Um, yes sir, I… I trust you…"

Looking down at her from above, completely stoic in the face, he nodded and replied very seriously, "Good."

Though just one simple word in response, it lit a nerve on fire in the young girl beneath him. That word alone had her shaking, before he even put the slick and slimy tip of the tool to her opening. But once he had, she gasped sharply, and loudly, and quickly reached up to cover her mouth with both of her slender hands, her eyes wider than ever.

Data didn't stop, but he barely moved at the slowest increments, spreading the lubricant over and around her maidenhood, not yet entering it. "Are you alright, Miss Shaunella? Your cheeks just turned an alarming shade of magenta in a very rapid amount of time. I have been told that is not unusual with sexual intercourse, but your case seems to be a little drastic. May I please continue or are you feeling overwhelmed? Do you need a minute?"

Color still rising, she shook her head. "N-No… You can k-keep going…"

As soon as he heard her confirmation, he obeyed and began to push and prod the tool into the girl in small, shallow explorations, entering her body, but only by an inch. "Is this also acceptable?" He inquired, the movements of his hand perfectly even and methodical.

She was looking away from him again, thinking. "Um, well… T-To be honest, it feels kinda good, but… It's still super weird! And well, I mean… No offense sir, but… Well, um, how do you like this song?"

Data was deeply confused, and quite concerned. "Miss Shaunella, you seemed to be trying to express dissatisfaction with my technique. If anything I do makes you uncomfortable, please let me know what to do right away."

Shaunella shook her head though. "I'm not uncomfortable, I was just curious… When you listen to a song, sir, do you just hear it, or do you really listen to the rhythm? Whenever I listen to this kind of music, it makes me feel like dancing, and, well…"

Data stared down at her, studying her as she suddenly began to gently rock against the tool. She went on, "The way this music sounds, the way they play the beat… Do you think you could maybe try to match your movements with the beat of the song…?"

He cocked his head to the side. Somehow her words made absolutely no sense to him, but also, they suddenly made him remember how Troi had once asked him to represent music in his clay sculpture. It seemed illogical at first to try and combine the two completely different things, but perhaps it could be done…

"Fascinating request, Miss Shaunella. I will try my best to fulfill it…"

Pausing for a moment to listen out for the music, Data quickly picked up the beat of the song, let the vibrations of the music travel from his ears to his fingertips, still holding on to the end of the tool. He focused on the music alone for the first few seconds, calculating the time intervals between different beats made from different musical instruments in the completed musical piece. There was indeed a pattern. So perhaps she just wanted him to match the speed and pattern of his hand's movements to try to mimic the tempo of the music currently being played…?

Putting his hypothesis to the test, he began to do just that, pushing and pulling in and out of the girl's body in time with the song, which had now just started playing the more rigorous and fast-paced "Harder Better Faster Stronger"…

The first half of the song was a bit slower though, so she still had the presence of mind to mention to him, "This feels good, like this…"

He nodded, not stopping what his hand was doing all the while, although he paused before replying. "I am… Relieved to hear that. I had heard that those like you, virgins, are very easy to hurt during their first sexual stimulation. It is fortunate that you are enjoying yourself. And if that is the case, may I please ask permission to go even deeper inside you? The doctor specifically instructed me to go as deep as possible." He reminded her.

Subconsciously biting the tip of her thumb, she quietly nodded. He nodded back to her, and began pushing the member in not just deeper, but faster, as the beat of the song began steadily speeding up…

She released the thumb from her mouth as a slightly squeaky, ragged sigh escaped her, and then a few seconds later, a low moan. Just a few seconds later, another moan, much louder, and her legs began to shake. Seemingly involuntarily, her right leg began to rise up, sliding the calf muscle against the outer part of his arm and up to his shoulder. Then it rose higher, settling her heel on the curve of his neck and shoulder.

Curiously he glanced over at her leg. Reacting on a strange impulse, he reached up with his free hand, and lightly grasped her calf, his fingertips feeling at the string-like muscles and tendons beneath her skin. He turned his head just a bit, nudging his chin against her ankle. Suddenly, although the sounds produced were very different of course, this encounter seemed very similar to… Practicing the violin…

His simple touches also seemed to inspire her. Her gasps and moans became louder, more uneven...

Her erratic behavior seemed to signify just one thing, so as a precaution, Data asked, just to make sure, "Miss Shaunella, if you feel an orgasm is impending, please let me know so that I may properly administer the serum at the correct moment…"

There had to be a less awkward way of saying that, but she tried her best not to let it distract her from what she had to do. So since the song would be ending soon anyways, she reached down with her dominant hand, and began to stroke herself between her labia, at the very small part of her female anatomy that humans referred to as the 'clitoris'.

Data remembered Tasha touching that part of her body when she was close to completion, too. So he braced himself and waited patiently for what he knew would soon come, while the little woman began to rock her body on the piece in Data's hand, and dig into his back and shoulder with her heel. In fact, Data was hardly even doing anything at all anymore, it was mostly Shaunella performing the movements…

And as promised, when the young woman began to feel her passions overwhelm her, she called out to him, "Oh god… Now, sir… I'm gonna…!"

Data nodded silently, pushing up as far as he could go, activating the tool, and releasing the medication.

Unsure what to do with her arms, Shaunella suddenly wrapped them around her own torso, seizing up. Her eyes rolled upwards under her eyelids for a few seconds, and she rocked her hips against his hand for a moment or two until the effect it had on her apparently ebbed away.

Pulling her leg down from his shoulder, as if putting away the pieces of his instrument after a finished recital, he looked down at her afterwards and gave her a small half-smile. He didn't feel happy for her, only some personal satisfaction for a job successfully completed, but his sexuality program informed him that women much preferred being smiled at during a moment like this, rather than stared at blankly.

But he only kept the expression up for a few seconds, then he let it drop, as well as her leg, and began to remove the instrument from her body. "Well, I believe that concludes your treatment…"

Suddenly though, she reached with her foot behind his elbow, stopping his hand before he completely removed the tool.

He looked down at her curiously. "Miss Shaunella?"

Her face almost completely covered in red, she still somehow managed to look up at him. To look him right in the eye. The next song on the track started to play, and she shyly but insistently inquired along with the lyrics, "…One more time…?"

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(( WELL, haha! This was really fun to write so far so I hope you guys are having fun reading it too! And next up, we have "Mad"-Madison, who is gonna be giving Data a much, MUCH harder time… XD

Note, if you didn't care for it, please just press the back button. I'm already aware that this kind of plot line is really corny and cliché and not everybody likes OCs, you don't need to remind me of any of that. I'm trying to do it my own way, so hopefully it'll still be amusing even if it has already been done before... If you did like it, I'd really love it if you let me know. Hope you guys look forward to the chapters to come! ))


	2. Won't You Shatter Me Hunk?

(( Okay so I've watched a bunch of TNG on Netflix and I just bought the Generations movie set at the store so I'm all caught up on Data at least... So yeah, this story is definitely an AU especially in regards to Nemesis, FUCK NEMESIS LOL... I'd say this fic takes places shortly before Generations and after the series and yeah, Tasha is alive and well and so will Data be for a DAMN long time. But, as of this fic, he hasn't installed the emotion chip yet, though he has a good amount of knowledge on humans and their behaviors by now. Not that it matters THAT much in a PWP (although there IS plot, just a little at least... XD) but that is where this fic is set, if anyone cared to wonder. XP

BLEH, ANYWAYS. ONTO CHAPTER TWO, AND THE PLOT THICKENS WITH THE THICK-TO-DEATH TSUNDERE MAD-MADISON! ))

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Data found himself a little confused, leaving Shaunella's room. She had initially said she did not want to be intimate with him, but the way she had asked for further pleasuring had seemed... At least somewhat intimate. In any case it took him even less time to get her to orgasm the second time than it had the first time, and that had only taken a few minutes to begin with, so he wasn't worried about it. He had been advised that thirty minutes to possibly as much as hour, would be the typical amount of time it would take to complete his task with each female. Shaunella had only taken fifteen minutes. So he did not mind fulfilling her extra request, since he had plenty of time to spare.

After stepping out of the sterilization room again, Data went back to the cot where his tools were laid. He supposed this would be the part where he should be apprehensive, if he were capable of that. But he wasn't. Still, there was something to note of the next woman, that she clearly would not be as easy to please as the others. But Data was not the kind of person who ever aimed for less than 100% at anything he did, so he was determined to do whatever was necessary to please Madison as well, despite whatever her quarrel with androids appeared to be…

With no effort or thought to what he was doing, he dropped his pants and detached his usual piece, before reattaching the one Madison had helped design for herself. Then he pulled his pants back up, before continuing on to the second quarantine room, containing Madison Paz-Warren.

When he got there, he found a very tall woman standing there. As tall as him, in fact, she was just a couple of centimeters taller than him, and she wasn't currently wearing shoes. Most human females were not that tall, he noted. She was also on the muscular side for a woman. She looked stronger than the average human female. Her legs were especially long, thick and muscular. He supposed, if he were comparing calves to a violin, like he had been with Shaunella, then the virgin girl had legs that were like a soprano or mezzo violin, while Madison's leg were more like a baritone or a small bass violin. He also recalled hearing a few men around the ship referring to her as a 'brick house' once…

She was also pale-skinned, a milky peach complexion, but with jet black hair, cut short in the back with a longer line of hair in the front. Her eyes were very vibrant shade of blue, slightly darker than cerulean. He looked it up on the list of shades of blue in his many color charts. Lapis blue. Her eyes were closest to the color humans called 'lapis blue', based on the lapis lazuli gemstone. The color of her eyes was aesthetically pleasing to him, he briefly noted, before going on to greet her.

"Hello Miss Madison—" He tried to begin, but suddenly found himself dodging a punch to the face. Looking at her fist from the side of it, he paused before amending, "…If you would prefer I call you Miss Paz-Warren, I would not object to it. However, I do object to being hit if I do anything wrong. You can simply tell me so, and I will amend the behavior immediately."

She took back her fist just as quickly as she had thrown it, and replaced it at her hip in a petulant pose, glaring at him. He didn't particularly like the look she was giving him, but he still liked that shade of blue in her eyes. "That's not why I tried to hit you. I tried to hit you because it's tradition. I hit every guy who fucks me at least once. And I would prefer you not call me Miss Anything. Just Madison is fine, I guess. Whatever…"

He quirked a brow. "Very well, Madison. I must admit, with your current combative nature, I am unsure with how to proceed with what needs to be done. You seem very hostile towards the idea of me being here. Are you sure you wish to proceed at all? I hope you can bring yourself to cooperate, for your own sake. I will try my very best to accommodate however you want to be treated during this encounter. Just tell me what you would like me to do."

Her glare intensified. "No shit, Sherlock." That expression meant that something should have been obvious, he noted, but he wasn't sure what he had said wrong to get her so riled up. She, however, was apparently about to let him know exactly what was on her mind. "I mean, yeah! I know all the uptight bitches around here think I'm the sluttiest thing on two legs, I've heard em all say it, but I –do- have standards, yanno? For example?" She paused there, and scowled especially deeply at him. "I don't fuck NERDS who say stuff like 'Oooh, tell me what you want me to do~ Tell me what to do, because I don't know what to do!' LAME!"

He contradicted her immediately. "I do know what to do. I am equipped with not just the parts needed, but a sexuality program with provides me with various pleasuring techniques and—"

She cut him off there, laughing right at him, hysterically. "AHAHAHA~! Oh my GOD! You have GOT to be kidding me! So what, did the guy who built you read you the Kama Sutra or something?"

He paused. "No, he did not read it to me. But he programmed me with several texts, including—"

She sighed now, haggard. "Oh come on… Even if you were as human as you look you'd probably still be a total bookworm and I DON'T date bookworms! I'm a fighter! I fuck other fighters! I fuck guys name Brutus and Bloodsport who have huge hulking muscles and dick for days! Fuck this!" She exclaimed, gesturing to all of him in general.

"…As you were previously informed, you do have the option to refuse treatment at any time…"

She rolled her eyes and stamped her foot. "Alright! I'll spell it out for you, robo-nerd! I'm not gonna die! But I'm telling you, you don't know shit about how to please a woman like me!"

There was the option to tell her that her pleasure actually wasn't 100% necessary to curing her. However, if he wanted to consider this all a 100% success in his book, then it was. There just had to be a way to convince her to cooperate… In the meantime though, he still insisted that his knowledge of the subject was sufficient, and so he contradicted her firmly. "I am confident that I do, and that I could."

She paused there, apparently a little bit interested in his response. After a moment, she leaned in and smirked at him. "Oh yeah? …Prove it."

She seemed to be waiting now. So he sought to clarify, "Do you want some kind of… Demonstration?"

Her smirk fell, and she glared at him again, sighing deeply and loudly, theatrically, in great suffering. "Uuuugh! See, THIS is what I mean! Any REAL man would know EXACTLY what to do when a woman tells him to 'prove it'!"

He was not getting frustrated. He was simply dissatisfied with how much time and energy this was wasting…

"I am sorry. I assure you my creator was a real man, but he still did not program me with a 'Prove it'-protocol. If you would just tell me what you want—"

"A REAL MAN! I want a REAL man!" She yelled back at him, her temper greatly elevated. "Come ON! Didn't they say they already knew the virus can be cured, and men can't get the parasites, right? So why can't they just let a real man do this and give him the shot after? Fuck this, I'm getting out of here! I want a tall drink of water, not the tin cup it came in!"

When he saw her going around him and heading for the exit, even though he knew she couldn't get out, he reached out and grabbed her arm, to stop her from continuing the ridiculous behavior. Perhaps the physical restraint, the reminder than he was her superior officer, would get her to come to her senses about how serious this all was. He was being lenient to her up until this point out of sympathy to her plight and because if anywhere was to be considered an informal setting, it would be here. But she was testing him…

He began again, tone neutral but rushing through the words, which he found pointless to begin with. "It would be unethical to expose a person to a disease if we did not have to. Besides that, there is always a chance that a virus could mutate, and become something that we cannot control. We will not take unnecessary risks like that. So if you do not want to continue the procedure with me, then simply say so and we will not proceed at all."

She seemed to have been stunned into silence. She was staring at him, her blue eyes wide. "…Hey…" Her eyes glanced down from his face, to the hand he was using to hold her back. He didn't loosen the squeeze he had on her just yet. "You… You really are pretty strong there, aren't you…"

He glanced briefly at his hand before finally loosening his grip. "Yes. I am stronger than any human by far."

"Interesting…" She mused, the smirk returning to her face. "Alright… I guess if you're so persistent, maybe I can teach you a thing or two…"

Data nodded, and then inquired of her, "What should I do?"

"Dominate me, dumbass." She replied immediately. "Don't you get it? I'm what people call a Bad Girl. You don't get me unless you can earn me. Take me. I wanna be held down hard. Kissed hard. Everything hard. I want it to hurt. Not a lot. But not too little…"

There was a protocol for this. Usually he was supposed to avoid hurting humans whenever possible. He would have to override a system to get the permission needed to do what she was asking him to. So he asked her, just once, "Madison, are you sure about this? I will try not to hurt you too much, but I am very strong. This request could be dangerous."

"I eat danger for breakfast, nerd." She deadpanned back at him, unimpressed with his warning. Then she barked at him, "So? Get to it already or I might just change my mind!"

Left with that ultimatum after getting so little leeway with her, after so much effort, he of course quickly made the temporary changes necessary. At the same time though, a large part of Data was still very… Uncomfortable with this request. If something went wrong he would still be held accountable no matter how much permission he had gotten. Madison was so very intense. There had to be a way to get her to ease her high level of aggression with him, even just a little. To 'lighten up', as the expression humans used went.

Lighten up… Lighten the mood…

Suddenly he remembered Shaunella's request from earlier to turn on music to 'lighten the mood' for them. And wasn't there a saying among humans, 'Music tames the wild beast'? Perhaps that was what was needed now.

Advancing on her, and holding her by the shoulders while he pushed her back onto the cot, Data mentioned to her as he climbed on top of her, "Tell me, Madison… What kind of music do you like? Would you like to play some?"

She quirked a brow up at him for that. She had expected him to simply just obey and push her back onto the bed, and do whatever else she said. His sudden suggestion surprised and intrigued her. "Hey, there's an idea... Mood music. Yer pretty smart for a tin can, aren't you? Alright. Computer. Play 'Mad-Mads Badass Bitch Mix.' All the best angry girl music to fuck to, Mr. Robo-Cop~"

Soon after a heavy rock and roll mix began to play. It was loud and abrasive, but it also had a sort of harmony with its discordant nature, if that made any sense. With humans contradictions often did.

There was a woman singing about being a rebel, and a freak, with pride. He could appreciate taking pride in a quality others would hold against you as a negative. He had been called a freak, and various other names, many times before. But he had never been the type to care for adopting insults, or identifying with his faults. It was fine if she wanted to, but if she apparently wanted him to take control, then he fully planned on doing so. And that included some new ground rules…

"Madison, I do not appreciate being referred to as a robot or a tin can, and I am now ordering you to cease. I realize we are in private quarters and under some highly unusual circumstances with you in a very vulnerable position, and originally, I was under orders by the captain to follow your personal instructions exactly. However, you have now opted to relinquish control over to me, and I am now opting to enforce my power over you as your superior officer. I will still consider your input, but from now on you are to follow my orders. And my first order, is that you are to address me with proper and due respect. You will either call me by my name, or as Sir. Is that understood?"

Her brow remained raised, and her lips quirked into a devilish grin. Very subtly she was starting to shake, though she tried to hide it with a suggestive sway of her hips. Most normal men probably wouldn't even notice it apart from her usual erratic and theatrical movements, but he certainly did. "Taking advantage of your position over me, Sir? How very interesting~" She was biting her bottom lip, apparently subconsciously signaling him a hint.

He stared down at her lips. "I have every right to do so, and I always did. Now, I believe I am going to shut you up for a while, Madison…"

Pinning both of her hands above her head with just one hand, the other hand tilted her chin up, holding it in place as smothered her lips with his, forcing his tongue into her mouth. Of course it wasn't really something he was enthusiastic about doing, but he needed to fool Madison into thinking he could project genuine passion. Her eyes did widen on the way down, and she closed them for a while to enjoy the kiss, for just a few seconds, but then she opened her eyes again and when she found him still staring at her, she narrowed her eyes at him again, still hostile.

From the way she was moaning into his mouth, at least, it appeared he was doing at least a passable job of kissing. But Data had never been the type of man to be satisfied with only a 'passable' performance…

His sexuality program informed him that humans would often grope each other while 'making out' like this. So he reached underneath her shirt with one hand, and began to squeeze her breasts. Of course he had no personal desire to do so, he was simply following the suggested course set by his programming. But Madison clearly didn't care about that. She arched against him, hungry for more, but still glaring at him, expecting something more of him, and since he didn't know what else it could logically be, he deduced that she wanted him to match her intensity. So he narrowed his eyes back at her, glared at her. And suddenly she stopped glaring at him, and arched a brow…

Then she resisted him. Before she had been letting him pin down both her arms, now she tried to break his grip. He of course easily held her back down again, and she moaned, trembling and shaking just a little more…

She broke her mouth away from the kiss, gulped and gasped a few breaths into her lungs, then told him, "Take my clothes off…"

Although he was technically supposed to be in control, he obeyed that request anyways. It meant he could finally let go of her arms for a moment. He also took the time to pose an inquiry, right after yanking her top over her head, and before he was about to remove her trousers. "Madison… May I ask why you wish to engage in behaviors that have a high probability of physically damaging you? Aren't you concerned about preserving yourself? Why do dangerous, animalistic behaviors appeal to you more than the average human rituals of romance?"

She stubbornly crossed her arms over her breasts. "I don't recall inviting you to ask me personal questions, no. But if you must know, one I'm just a big tough bitch that can handle it, and two… Well, you tell me. You should know. You're the one who says he wants to really feel stuff like us humans. You think any person deserves the same, right? So that goes for me. I can't get off worth a damn on that frilly foo-foo romance shit. I wouldn't even know what to do if someone ever tried that nonsense with me. Men are only really 'gentle'-men with little ladies. Big gals like me they feel more comfortable getting rough with. That's just how it's been all my life. So I can only even feel it if it's testing my limits, you get it?"

He didn't really, but he nodded silently in acknowledgement of her answer anyways, just to get the situation moving.

She apparently had more to say though, and did so while he was now removing her pants. "It's like, I get it… It's like that wherever you go. Even here. The tough guys and gals like me are the ones that always step up first when it's ass-kicking time, whether it's us kicking asses or getting ours handed back to us. So if we don't expect the doctors or the kindergarten teachers to do the same stuff in battle, why would we expect them to do the same stuff in bed?"

Data still just wanted to get on with things. But he couldn't deny his puzzlement over her reasoning. He had observed plenty of small-statured fighters, and plenty of large people who liked gentleness and romance. Now wasn't the time to waste arguing, but he couldn't help but quip while reaching down to remove his own trousers, "I still don't understand…"

She stared at him petulantly. "Yeah, well you know who does get it? Tasha. She's one of the only people I've ever met that gets it, besides the lady who convinced me to join this whole band of misfits…"

Data narrowed his eyes back at her. "Please do not lie, Madison. I know Tasha very well. She is my friend. I know Tasha prefers gentleness."

"I'm not lying." Madison challenged him right back. "Maybe Tasha can chill, but deep down she's a beast like me. She's been to hell and back like me... But anyways…" She grinned a sly grin suddenly a nasty smile that indicated mischievousness. "Enough talk already~! Get to wrecking me so you can go wreck the thing Tasha has been trying to make happen with that sweet Geordi La Forge~"

But of course now she had his distracted. "What thing…?" Suddenly, Data realized, Geordi's agitation at the conference might have been due to something else entirely.

"The relationship she was trying to start with him, duh. Not so smart after all, are you, Tin Can…"

That disrespect again…

"That's enough…"

He was not frustrated. Or angry. Simply dissatisfied that he had apparently encroached upon a relationship between two of his dear friends that he had not been aware was taking place. Dissatisfied that he might have, while trying to help one dear friend, accidentally damaged his relationship with two. He did not truly feel angry at her, he was just playing the role she had selected…

He just happened to want to get this over with quicker now, to see what damage he could possibly repair…

She was now naked. He quickly pulled his own pants down as well, but he didn't kick them off his feet. No need. He leaned down over her, positioned himself right above her, perfectly aligned. "Are you prepared for me to—"

She started rolling her eyes. "Don't fucking ask me, just do it!"

He obeyed, pushing the tool up to her entrance. He was met with little resistance. She hadn't given him time to prepare lubricant, but thankfully, it seemed she had produced plenty…

The tool slid into her completely with ease, and he set off at a medium paced thrust, although usual protocol was to start off with slow. He was met with a very loud moan from Madison, who grabbed both of his shoulders. "Ooh~! Yeah… Not bad… I'm used to guys who hit it from the back, but I guess normal boring old vanilla missionary is okay from a boring old robot-man~"

"If you would like me to change positions, you may simply ask—"

But she quickly amended, "No, no, it's fine, I mean… Just, yanno, can you do it any harder? Like is this seriously the hardest you can—WHOA!"

Hard mode. He figured he should mention, "I also have a vibration setting, three speeds. Would you like to activate it to the highest setting?"

She rolled her eyes at him again. "Why the fuck didn't you say so earlier? No duh activate it!—AH, AHHH…!"

So then, already at maximum speed of thrusts, and maximum vibration setting… Data admittedly wasn't sure what to do a few second later when she screamed out, "MORE!"

"More?" He repeated, doubtful. His systems indicated this should be the maximum capacity human female's bodies were capable of—

"HARDER!" She demanded, but then afterwards, in a plea, she added, "Oh come on, Data, you're so fucking close, oh my god, almost…!"

She had… Used his name…? Interesting.

Manual override, increase maximum speed of thrust by 1%.

"Mmm, yes! Harder!"

Increase maximum speed of thrust to 2%.

"Harder, -harder-!"

Increase maximum speed of thrust to 5%...?

"AAH! I SAID HARDER, DAMN IT-!"

…Increase maximum speed of thrust to 8%... He was getting very unsure about all this…

She was beyond words now. Now she could merely scream and shout, and gasp for air. Her face was very red. The red was aesthetically pleasing too, but not as much so as her blue eyes, which were now hidden as she had her eyelids shut tight, focusing on her breathing instead of any of her other senses.

She kept shouting and moaning, then gasping for air, then moaning again, and gasping again. She kept repeating the pattern several times. He actually started timing the whole thing after a while, having nothing else to do after releasing the medication some time ago. By the time she finally started settling down, he calculated that she had spent the past one minute and nineteen seconds in a prolonged orgasmic state. Didn't the average human female orgasm only last about 20 seconds or so? If nothing else this was all very interesting information, but surely that had to indicate that he had done at least a decent job…

She took on several more sharp intakes of breath, before finally tapping him on the shoulder, and telling him, "H-Hey… You can stop now…"

His hips slowed, then he paused before withdrawing. "Are you fully satisfied?"

She nodded back, strangely quiet all of a sudden, and when Data moved away from her, he noticed suddenly that her eyes were getting watery. She wasn't outright crying, but her eyes were overflowing with liquid…

"Madison, are you alright? You appear to be in pain. Did you sustain any injuries?"

The tears started to flow from her eyes and run down her cheeks, but surprisingly, she still wasn't really crying-crying. In fact, she started to giggle, and soon after, she started to laugh.

"Jesus Christ you gotta be kidding me! How the hell did I just have the best orgasm in my life thanks to some…"

Data raised a brow at her, compelled to admit. "I have no idea what to make of your current behavior, Madison…"

She shrugged, rueful, still grinning despite her wet cheeks. "Yeah? Well, same here… Ah, wait, damn it…" She suddenly exclaimed, and he looked at her.

"What is it?" He asked, not knowing that it was the thing that he had just started to hear the last few seconds that she was referring to. The sounds of bells, chimes, and an electric-aquatic like noise in the background. It was very lovely, he decided right away. Just like he had decided those blue eyes were lovely right away.

The beat of the song increased ever so slightly and a female voice started to sing, the electric noises around her become excited by her performance…

'I pirouette in the dark, I see the stars through a mirror…'

Then a violin started to play! A most lovely sound indeed, and it was being played so well…

'Tired mechanical heart, beats til the song disappears…'

Madison had been saying all the while, "I forgot this song was on there, it's embarrassing, I'm gonna shut it off-"

But Data suddenly interrupted her. "Please do not. I would prefer to listen to this song. I am enjoying it…"

The song was getting ever faster-paced. Ever more urgent.

'Somebody shine a light… I'm frozen by the fear in me… Somebody make me feel alive and Shatter Me…'

He looked up at Madison. Those crystal-blue eyes were definitely crying now.

'So cut me from the line… Dizzy, spinning endlessly… Somebody make me feel alive and Shatter Me!'

The violin started to sing frantically in time with mad electric hum, a perfect marriage of the two strangely opposite noises. It was one of the most impressive auditory effects Data had ever heard. And yet, Madison seemed to be showing the signs of embarrassment by his hearing them… But then, perhaps, considering the nature of the lyrics, and the nature of what she logically seemed to be crying about…

"Madison…" He whispered after a few seconds. "I think, perhaps, I understand you after all…"

She was mad again. But she was too tired to really 'chew him out', she had no strength left in her bite. "Yeah? What do you think you know, android? What do you think you know about being sold by your own older brothers to an entire army camp, at EIGHT? Of being raped every day for years? Of finally being one of the rare few women who grow up big and tall and strong enough to put up a fight to the men, except then, they built goddamn robot-men to drag you back. Those you can't fight, those don't feel pain… Wasn't until the federation liberated me at twenty that I finally got away… Didn't join right away, met a few other assholes along the way, but finally I came back, because... Wherever I went, eventually, I'd find a little girl... And wherever I found her, I wanted to get her out of there. And I never felt like that when I was here..."

'If only the clockwork could speak, I wouldn't be so alone…'

But then, suddenly, she softened. "Yanno what, though… Don't think about all that… What I wanna know is this – Why are you so good, not the sexy stuff, I mean, why are you just so… So GOOD! Why are you so goddamn GOOD, Data?! How can you figure out right from wrong but most men, my own damn brothers—!"

Her voice cracked and she broke down crying, unable to go on. Data wrapped his arms around her in support, and awkwardly patted her back.

'We'd burn ever magnet and spring, and spiral into the unknown…'

Distantly he wondered how some human woman had managed to come up with such strange words, and in the here and now, he rubbed the crying woman's back, and mumbled back to her in pity and support, "I am… Very sorry all that happened to you, Madison…"

Suddenly she looked up at him. "I… I'm sorry I said and did everything I did to you too…"

He blinked. She shook her head, and seemingly as way of apology, she went quiet and let him enjoy the rest of the song uninterrupted. It was a whirlwind-thunderstorm of sounds and haunting lyrics full of emotions he couldn't feel, but still found beautiful and fascinating to be described in such vivid words. He identified with much of it greatly despite not feeling it, but through meeting those that did and sympathizing with them, even though he could not empathize with them. He resolved to copy the song for private repetition later, and again, to finally experience the full scope of the emotions he so longed to share with these fascinating people, these tortured artists…

By the time the song was over, she had finally wiped away her tears. "I… I already know you swore to confidentiality and all that , but yanno, don't you dare tell anybody anything you saw here… Especially not this…"

He looked up at her just in time to realize she was throwing her arms around him, hugging him and giving him a short but hard and passionate kiss on the lips, before moving back quickly, grinning and blushing.

He suddenly felt compelled to make a confession to her. "I find the particular shade of blue your eyes are colored to be aesthetically pleasing. Though I would prefer it greatly if they looked upon me with kindness more often…"

She blushed. "Wha… You mean, you think my eyes are pretty? That's… That's really sweet, you big robo-nerd, er, Sir…" She quickly amended, though not really all that seriously and with a shy smile.

"Madison…" He couldn't help but inquire. "I cannot help but notice you seem to be going through a drastic catharsis based on our experience here and your troubled past. I greatly suggest some therapy sessions, in concern for your best interests of course. I am convinced they would offer much help…"

She shrugged, her smile fading, and quickly looked away. "I… I guess maybe, thanks… But hey… One more thing before you go, Data…"

She used his name again. So, curious, he looked back in inquiry. She stepped up to him slowly, reached up like she was gonna kiss him again... And then, she gave him a quick 'flick' with her thumb and middle finger, right on his jawline.

He stared at her, puzzled. So she explained. "Told ya… I hit every guy who fucks me. But I'm letting you off easy because I like you now, I guess. Whatever…" She crossed her arms, then made a 'shooing' motion with her hands. "Alright! Now get out of here already, robo-nerd! Your job is still only half over!" She reminded him.

That was true, so he nodded. "It is my wish that you feel better soon, Madison."

She crossed her arms at him. "Oh, wait… One more thing! I mean, one more-one more thing!" She amended, realizing she had already said that, and that he probably would bring it up, which he had been about to. "You can actually just call me Mads… It's what my friends call me… My nickname from academy, Mad Mads…"

He quirked a lip up at her as he made his way out of the room, and into the cleaning area. "See you later then… 'Mads'."

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(( WELL ALRIGHT THEN~ XD;;; Hope all y'all liked Mad Mads and much as I liked writing her crazy-awesome self. And hope you like the sweetheart to come, Kembyr, and the sweet reunion between Data and Tasha and the hopefully satisfying conclusion thereafter! ^^ ))


	3. Procreation

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Well. That was all certainly very interesting so far. Very interesting, indeed. He had collected quite a lot of new information about human female behavior and the threshold of their sexuality. Apparently his creator had greatly underestimated the strength of human females… That or the female Madison Paz-Warren was an extreme anomaly. It was plausible. He was grateful she at least seemed to have turned her insults toward him into the friendly kind. It would not do to be outright insulted by another crew member seriously, after all. It now seemed, however, that her jibes were now being used instead as 'pet names'…

Of course that was only part of what was on his mind. He also wanted to hurry along to Tasha, and assure her he had no intentions of coming between her and any potential mate she ever wanted to be with, especially their mutual friend Geordi. That he was only glad to know that his two friends wanted to be closer to each other, happier with each other, and that he only hoped to continue being friends with both of them after all of this was over and done with.

So it was fortuitous, he supposed, that the last female was, according to the doctor's notes, the most willing to work with him. He had completed what should have been the 'hard part of the job' and this part should then be the 'smooth sailing'.

After going through the clean-up process and disposing of the last tool, he then went to retrieve the next in the set, attaching it to himself and then redressing properly for the next meeting.

Coming into the room, he found a woman who reminded him both a bit of Tasha, and of Jenna D'Sora. She was a little taller than average height, like them. Five foot eight, while Tasha was five foot seven. A 'tenor' body, he supposed. She had blonde hair like them too, a darker shade that had tints of brunette mixed in the yellow strands, medium length, tied in a loose ponytail. Her eyes were blue as well, but not the vibrant shade of blue that Madison's had been. They were a blue mixed with green, like the naturally mossy waters of a lake. He suddenly decided to paint a lake later…

"Hello Miss Kembyr. Is it alright if I call you Miss Kembyr, or would you prefer something else?" He added, just in case, considering his last encounter...

She looked up, trembling a bit. "Oh, um… Just Kembyr is fine, Sir. And would it maybe be okay if I call you Data…?"

He nodded. "That would be acceptable. How would you like to proceed?"

She seemed to hesitate. "Well… In all honesty, I'm not sure I can proceed yet at all."

He nodded again, not yet finding this answer too worrisome. "Simply state which criteria need to be fulfilled in order for us to begin, and I will fulfill them to the best of my abilities."

She looked even less certain now. Much less certain. She twisted her hands and knotted her brow with worry. She looked to be experiencing a negative emotion, but he couldn't place it. "I… I don't think I should do this after all…"

He had somehow apparently already managed to offend her, even though he had barely interacted with her at all. This was unacceptable to him. "You appear to be much more worried about the treatment than initially indicated, Kembyr. Surgery is also an option, but I am sure we would both much prefer the least traumatic option. Could you please explain why you are having reservations about this form of treatment? Hopefully then I may be able to find a way to make you more comfortable."

She looked up at him, and sighed. There was pain in her eyes, but he didn't understand it. "I… I don't feel right, making you do something like this, even to save my life. I know you can't feel, so there's no reason besides you wanting to be so selflessly helpful that you should want to do something like this. Don't get me wrong, I really am grateful to you for offering, but… I just don't feel right, taking something like this from you, and being unable to offer you anything..."

He shook his head. "I… Believe you are confused? Would it not be unethical for me to have an ulterior motive for wanting to help you in this manner?"

But she insisted, "No, Sir. Because I already knew very well that you didn't have ulterior motives. That's all the more reason it feels like I should find some way to return such a huge favor. But since I can't think of any logical way to repay you, it's leaving me feeling too guilty to want to go through with it… I mean, of course, besides the fact that we don't even know each other…"

Data took a moment and processed the new information she had presented. "Forgive me, Kembyr. I believe you are having an irrational emotional response that, in this case, is not warranted. All the same, I will still attempt to ease your anxiety. I do receive some compensation in the form of data collected on human behavior. This data is of course never shared, only used to enhance my own personal understanding. I consider this information to be invaluable. So, even though I cannot feel either the positive emotions or the physical pleasure that I hope this activity will provide you, I assure you this encounter still has special meaning for me as well, in my own way."

He paused, processing more of her response. "May I ask though Kembyr, why it is that this troubles you? I have already successfully performed sexually for two women right before you. Neither of them were troubled over my lack of pleasure in the act. You really need not be, either."

She sighed. "I just can't help it, sir…"

He finally interrupted her there. "Kembyr, I thought you asked to call me Data?"

She blushed at the reminder. "Oh, right… Yes, Data, sir, but that—That's just part of the thing itself!" She suddenly exclaimed, her blush going from pink to almost full red in a short amount of time. "It's just—I've always really admired you, Data, sir! I always thought you were way cool! But, I always planned to just admire you from -afar-, I never in a million years would have ever thought—I mean, that is to say—"

She was very flustered. She seemed to have a hard time articulating herself on top of that, but being very emotional wasn't helping. Still, she bravely forged on, "It's just, you've got a LOT of fans, you know! A lot of people admire you! You've got a lot of admirers, and for good reason! You are such an amazing person, besides just the marvel of technology that you are. It's so complex you might as well be magic to someone like me, so I respect you more for your actions and choices than what you are… But I'm still pretty amazed by that too, and all the amazing stuff you can do, I mean, being with you is pretty much like being with Superman or ZEUS or something-I guess I'm just trying to say, you know, I respect you so much, I have so many reasons to respect you, but, you don't know me at all and have no reason to respect me, so… I don't know. I just, I guess… I guess that's why…" She finally finished in a fluster, leaving him to piece together the puzzle of words she had just sputtered out at him.

"Oh… I see…" He slowly mumbled back, taking a little extra time to detangle her shy words, like Christmas lights all bunched up together in a box for a year. "But if that is the case... Should not having admiration for me make it easier to be intimate with me?"

"At first I thought it might… But after thinking about it, I'm finding it actually makes it harder, if anything…" She admitted, holding her hands in front of her lap in guilt.

This was indeed a puzzle. Humans sometimes contradicted their feelings and behaviors, and sometimes, they practically twisted them into pretzels. Data was at a complete loss as to what to say to her regarding all her complex feelings, but after a moment or two, a temporary solution popped into his brain, at least.

"Kembyr, do you enjoy music? Would you like to play some? Perhaps it will help distract you from your nervousness."

She blinked in surprise at his suggestion, but afterwards she seemed a little doubtful. "Oh… Well I do love music, I mean, who doesn't? But I'd be embarrassed to pick something out, and it might end up distracting me more—"

"I hardly think that could even be possible." Data supplied, completely serious. "Of course I will respect your choice if you really do not wish to play anything, but I will simply be honest: The other two women I have been with tonight played some music, so now I find myself hoping that you will choose something to play as well. I would like to have a song to associate with you and remember you by. Also, if you are worried about us getting to know each other before becoming intimate, sharing our tastes in music is a good start, is it not?"

Her doubt didn't ebb, but she at least relented to him kindly, "That's a really sweet idea, Data… And I guess I can think of a song to play. I don't know if it's the best, most perfect song, but it just suddenly popped into my head right now, and I guess it should be good enough, so… Alright. Computer, play Guster's 'Satellite'…"

First there was the simple strum of a guitar. Then a fanciful, alien sound began to accompany it. A mellow drum joined in. It was an energetic, but peaceful piece.

A young man's voice began to sing. But, it seemed, Kembyr had decided to shyly join in as well. She was barely singing in a whisper, not wanting to overpower the song. Singing like a sigh while she watched him watching her…

"Shining like a work of art… Hanging on a wall of stars… Are you what I think you are…?"

She smiled, and he stopped to wonder what came next. What was she thinking he was…?

"You're… My… Satellite~" She quickly followed, her smile growing into a grin as the blissful beauty of the song took over her. "You're riding with me tonight… Passenger side, lighting the sky, always the first star that I find… You're… My… Satellite…"

The sweeping little tune took over again, and he considered the word, the title of the song that she had chosen. Satellite. Definition; An artificial body placed in orbit around the earth or moon or another planet in order to collect information or for communication. Alternatively, something that is separated from or on the periphery of something else but is nevertheless dependent on or controlled by it…

An artificial body… Collecting information and communicating… Separated, but nevertheless dependant on and controlled by…

Interesting.

He searched out Kembyr's eyes as she continued to sing, but she was now shyly hiding them away to the side while she sang the next part.

"Elevator to the moon… Whistling our favorite tune… Trying to get a closer view…"

When she sang the last line, she finally looked up at him again. Really peering at him, searching for something, but he had no idea what…

The chorus of the song then took over again, and she sang with that until the lulling, alien-like noise took over again, and Data anticipated the final lyrics.

They were simple, but profound. "Maybe you will always be… Just a little out of reach…"

The strum of the guitar became a lonely sound. And yet, it didn't diminish the beauty, and when the chorus took over again, the loneliness was overshadowed by the energy, the last call of emotion.

"You're my satellite… You're riding with me tonight… Passenger side, lighting the sky, always the first star that I find… You're… My… Satellite…"

He listened to the song until it was completely over. Only when silence returned to them did he break it. "Thank you. I enjoyed that."

She nodded, smiling at him. "I did too… Well, I suppose we should share at least a few other things before we can say we've 'gotten to know each other', so how about… What are your favorite colors, let's say, top three or four? Mine is green, blue, purple, and… Yellow…"

He quirked his head, a little confused. "I see the appeal in all colors individually, but I suppose if I had to choose a sequence of colors I find most aesthetically pleasing in this moment, then I would say yellow, red, blue and… Green. Yes, green is a good color. Not a 'warm' or a 'cool' color. It is neutral. I like that."

She smiled and nodded along with his explanation. "Yeah, that's why I like green too! Okay, so we've covered music and favorite colors… How about your favorite books? I love anything by Neil Gaiman!"

Eager to supply such easy answers, Data contributed. "I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes."

She grinned back at him. "That's great! This is a good start! Let's see, what else, hmm… I'd ask your favorite food, but you can't taste either, can you…?"

He shook his head. "Not in the way humans are able to, no."

She shrugged slowly, laying her hands in her lap in thought. "Yanno… I knew a girl once who lost her taste buds due to a disease in her childhood. She couldn't taste anything either. But for some reason, she still really loved eating chocolate. Practically the only thing she ever ate. People asked her why she loved chocolate so much even though she couldn't taste, and she said that even though she couldn't taste it, eating chocolate still always made her happy. Isn't that funny? But then, I can't help but wonder…" She continued curiously, without waiting for his initial answer. "If in this case, chocolate equals sex… Then what has you so interested in the subject Data, if you can't enjoy it either? Besides just wanting to be helpful, what makes this particular data so interesting to you?"

He copied her slow shrug. "I am interested in all forms of information in regards to human behavior. Admittedly, I began this endeavor merely wishing to be of assistance. But after the last two experiences, I realize my knowledge on human sexuality, especially regarding human females and their capabilities, is extremely inadequate. I may not have another chance to gather this kind of information, so as I said, this experience is in its own way invaluable to me, even though I cannot share in the physical or emotional stimulation."

She nodded in acceptance of his answer, but still she sighed. A heavy sound. "I guess I have to understand, it's just such a shame…"

He looked up at her, and cocked his head in mild confusion. "What is a shame?"

She smiled at him, but she looked sad. "That you don't know what you're missing… My heart aches for you, Data. I wish there was anything I could do to help you. I know you think it's irrational, I already know it is. I really just can't help it…"

After a brief moment, he nodded. "I understand… Somewhat. Other humans have expressed these kinds of sentiments for me before. Of course I cannot feel them, but I understand what compels you to feel as you do. You are what humans refer to as empathic. You are feeling twice as much emotion as necessary to compensate for what I lack. It is, as I have already stated, impossible and a waste of time to worry about how I feel about things, because I cannot feel. But if you are so worried about how I regard the situation, I will be as plain as I can be: My primary goal is to cure you. My secondary goal is to bring you as much pleasure and as little pain as possible while accomplishing the primary goal. If you are worried about pleasing me, helping me to accomplish my goals comes closest to doing so. So please, focus on your own pleasure now, not mine. If I remember correctly, your notes stated that you wanted me to try to 'Be as natural as possible'. Would you please indicate to me what would feel most 'natural' to you? Then I will try to be as 'natural' with you as I can be..."

He attempted to wiggle his eyebrows in a suggestive way, as suggested by his romance program (which he had not deleted, despite telling Jenna he would) but unfortunately, it came out more stiff and silly-looking than suggestive.

It caused the woman to bunch up into a laugh, a childish giggle. After a few moments she managed to sputter back to him, in good humor, "Oh my goodness – Are you trying to seduce me, Mister Data?"

He simply answered honestly. "Yes. Is it working?" And wiggled his eyebrows some more.

She laughed some more, and once she composed herself, in lieu of answering him, she instead mentioned to him, "You're so funny…"

A statement like that should most likely be considered a compliment, but for some reason, she sounded slightly worried when she said it…

Since she hadn't answered affirmatively, that most likely meant she was trying to be polite and avoid answering in the negative. So taking it to mean that she had in fact answered in the negative, he followed up by further pursuing it. "If not, please tell me what to do to make it work for you…"

It seemed his earnest request and pursuit of her was all she really needed, because she suddenly looked up at him, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed his lips. He kissed her back, matching her level of intensity. Much lower than Madison's, of course, but she kissed him harder than Tasha had, all those years ago…

Suddenly, just as quickly as she had started kissing him, she pulled back. "Data…" She began, her brow knitted, an inquiry clearly weighing upon it. "Do you know how to play 'pretend'? Like, role-play? It wouldn't be anything too complex, but…"

He nodded. "Yes, of course. Playing out scenarios is something I do quite often. What kind of scenario would you like us to construct?"

She blushed, dark pink. "W-Well… Do you think you'd be able to pretend to be my husband, while we're together tonight? Husband and wife, it doesn't get more natural than that, right? At least when it comes to making love…"

He considered it, and it made enough sense. However, there was one problem. "I would be glad to help you to the best of my abilities. However, although I do have a 'boyfriend program', I do not have a 'husband program', and it has been a long time since I used the former. So you will have to give me further instructions in order for me to proceed. For example, what difference is there between having sexual relations with a boyfriend, versus having sexual relations with a husband?"

She blinked for a good solid minute at that. "Oh… Well, actually, I guess, not really that much at all…"

"Then would you be satisfied simply pretending I am your boyfriend?" It would make things so much simpler…

But she was clearly hesitating, not wanting to relent. "It's just… Being a married couple, it implies the two people are much more deeply in love than if they were just dating… And well, it also implies that the relationship is much more serious, that the two involved are going to stay together, and well… Have children together…"

She squirmed very visibly as she said that last part. Data quickly pointed it out, with no shame, "Are you perhaps aroused at the thought of procreation, Kembyr?"

Now her face was practically on fire. His heat sensors also indicated that there was a considerable rise in temperature in her genital region…

She looked far away from his eyes. "Data! You can't just ASK a girl something like THAT-!"

He blinked back, completely unsure of what he'd done wrong. "Apologies. It is just that you were showing all the signs of arousal as soon as you mentioned having children… Do you not want me to ascertain what to do in order to maximize your arousal and pleasure?"

She would not take her eyes off her hands, fidgeting with her own fingers. "Well, no, I mean, yes, but—"

"Are you perhaps doubtful of me because you do not think I will be able to understand the subject sufficiently?" He guessed further, figuring he'd have to take over a bit to get anything done at all here. "Because if the biggest difference between being a boyfriend and being a husband is procreation, then I should be able to understand being a husband better than being a boyfriend. You see, the desire to procreate is one of the few human urges I have ever personally desired for myself…"

She looked up at him in a considerable amount of surprise at that confession. "I… I had heard a story about that, sir…"

He did not know she already knew about that, and now she seemed to be acting more formal with him again out of pity. Many of the humans had similar reactions when they learned about the ultimate fate of Lal. Losing a child was apparently one of the single most painful experiences a human could endure, so for an empathic person like her, bringing that up had probably been the equivalent of 'stepping on a landmine'. He tried to minimize her emotional response by assuring her, "I feel no pain at her passing. You need not concern yourself with it. Please forget I mentioned it, and try to focus on what you need to do at the moment instead. Tell me – How would you prefer for a husband to treat you?"

She was quiet for a moment or two, thinking upon it. "It's really not that complicated, Data… A woman just wants to feel special, to feel loved. Just… Call me 'Dear', and 'my love', and kiss me, all over…"

"All over?" He repeated, for clarification. It was a rather broad description...

"Mostly on the mouth, but yes… All over…"

"Very well then, dear…" He whispered to her huskily, then set to fulfilling her request. He kissed her mouth, firmly, passionately, like a man kissing the woman he loved, if he were capable of such a thing.

She moaned softly into the kiss, holding onto his shoulders. He kissed her until she was breathless, and broke off the kiss of her own free will, in order to take a few gasps of air. In the meantime, since he had no need of air, he resumed kissing her, over the jaw and onto her neck, then down over her shoulder and arm, until his kisses reached the top of her hand.

'Where did he learn that 'Gomez Addams' style of kissing…?' Kembyr had just been wondering of the surprisingly romantic display, when suddenly, Data took her hand and flipped it over, palm side up, and began kissing the inside of her hand. He followed up the inside of her wrist, until Kembyr realized with no small amount of shock and just slightly less revulsion, that the android was about to kiss her armpit…

"DATA!" She shrieked, pulling her arm back to her own body. But at his innocent look of confusion, she couldn't help but start laughing, giggling madly at his incredible antics. "Oh my god! How have you managed to make love to two other women already…?"

He shrugged, helplessly confused by both her reaction and her question. "Well, in all fairness, you are the only woman so far tonight who has referred to the act as 'making love'…"

That comment seemed to sober her up, and she quickly stopped laughing. "Oh… I see…"

She seemed to be reverting back to pitying him again, but that was getting them nowhere fast. So he quickly diverted her attention, gathering her back into his arms. "Kembyr, I hope you can learn not to let it bother you that I cannot feel, and that you do not mistake the fact that I cannot feel, with a complete inability to understand why you feel the way you do. Though I cannot empathize with your empathy for me, I am nonetheless appreciative that you have considered how I would feel, if I were capable of it."

She swallowed at the nervousness in her throat, shyly snuggling up to his chest. "I understand, sir… Even though it's hard to accept, I wouldn't be a considerate partner if I didn't… But, still…"

Looking up at him, she reached up and stroked his cheek, peering into his eyes. "If, somehow, it ever were to become possible for you to feel… If I'm still around, would you at least let me return the favor to you then…?"

He felt no anticipation for her offer, but he did acknowledge it. It was certainly fortuitous to have a willing participant in wait, should he ever have the opportunity to make such an experiment. "That is very kind of you. I accept."

She smiled at him, apparently satisfied with that answer for now. Then she reached up, and kissed him again. And again. Twice on his lips and then once on both cheeks. Only then did she pull back, looking up at him with some kind of new emotion on her face. It seemed to be a positive emotion, at least. "Alright… Let's try this again… My love…" She added, linking her arms around the back of his neck, and kissing him madly all over his face and neck and shoulders, taking her time especially around his neck.

He was a little unsure as to why humans would enjoy this. It was rather distracting, in his opinion. But when he replicated it on her, a smile of contentment came to her face, and she sighed. When he reached her neck and began kissing her there, she moaned a little, and grasped him tighter.

"Does this feel acceptably stimulating? Dear?"

She laughed, and shook her head, but then answered in the affirmative. "Yes Data, it feels good so far…"

He was a little unsure about whether she was being entirely truthful. "I am glad to hear you say so, my love… Should I perhaps have just said 'does it feel good', though? I have been told that my overly descriptive manner of speech can be distracting-" But then again, he was probably 'over-thinking' it now, which he had been told was also distracting…

She shook her head though, and apparently this time she meant it. "No, it's fine… I know I asked you to try to role-play with me, but, I'm not trying to cast any illusions over you, Data, sir…"

He was very confused by those words. They reminded him of something a wizard or enchantress would say in a fantasy novel, which confused him more than most other kinds of books. He didn't know what to make of it. "Please explain?"

She nodded, prepared to do so. "I mean, that I'm not going to try and pretend you're a normal human man. One, it's just impossible, and two, it's not fair or right to you. So, when I asked you to try and pretend we are husband and wife for just tonight, I meant that I wanted to pretend to be married to you, as you are. Not that I wanted you to try and pretend to be a 'normal guy' for me…"

And to think, he initially believed Kembyr would be the 'easy' one to deal with. She was even more confusing than the other two together. "I am afraid I just cannot understand why you would want that. Your sexual gratification is tied to your desire to procreate. Therefore, having me, someone who is incapable of organic reproduction, as a husband would not make sense…"

She stared at him for a long moment, and slowly, tears started gathering in her eyes. And yet, after a while, she smiled at him, trying her best to be patient. "Data… Yes, I have always wanted to have a baby someday, but… I have also always realized full well that the desire to procreate is simply my body doing its job, doing what comes naturally… And the most important thing in any relationship should be the love the people involved have for each other, not what they want from each other. I would know that especially well, because…"

The tears started to fall at an alarming rate. "My first husband, years ago… He left me because I miscarried what would have been our firstborn…"

It finally clicked. "Bringing up procreation… It keeps reminding you of that painful memory…" He looked away from her, wholly dissatisfied with his entire performance with her thus far. "I… Seem to be unable to stop doing the wrong thing around you. I am sorry…"

She paused to wipe the tears off of her cheeks. Then she shook her head. "It's okay Data. I understand. And I still like you, despite you messing up… I know what it's like to be a screw up, too. I had a lot of trouble growing up, understanding and getting along with other kids. So I kinda get what you go through, at least a little…" Suddenly she sighed. "Wow… I guess by now you really have gotten to know me, huh…"

He wasn't sure what to say to that, so he simply nodded in agreement, and waited for her to finish her thoughts. After a moment, she finally resumed, "I guess… There's just no real 'right' way to do this… I'm caught between wondering if I like you enough to do it, to knowing I already like you more than I should and feeling guilty about that. So now I think, we should just get to it. Just do it and save the over-thinking for later!" She sighed deeply, throwing up her hands in defeat.

"If that is what you wish—" He began, but she had already pulled her shirt over her head, and threw it to the side. Her face fell red with embarrassment, but she didn't even pause before reaching for the hem of her slacks.

Since she was apparently now in a hurry, Data quickly set to undressing as well. He was more confused than ever, though. He could not fathom why, after apparently fully accepting how inept he was at understanding or pleasing her, that she now wanted him more than ever…

She left her panties on until he had also finished undressing, and only then did she remove them, standing naked with him. She was trembling very hard, but she did not immediately make a move to come towards him. Given how much he had messed up so far, he figured he ought to let her come to him. So he simply waited.

She took a deep breath, to calm herself, before stepping forward. When she was only a single step away, she stopped, looking up into his eyes. Searching, still searching. Even though she already knew there was nothing to find…

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, embracing his naked form to her own. She was trembling, but not just from arousal. Her heart was racing with apprehension.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Data inquired, returning the embrace, and settling his hands at the small of her back. She seemed so sure just a few seconds ago, and now she was back to being shy. Unwilling to let the progress slip away, he kept his embrace around her gentle, but insistent and firm…

She didn't pull back to look at him, but smiled at his statement anyways. "It's okay Data, you don't have to pretend after all. You don't have to pretend to be anyone else, and you don't have to pretend I'm anyone special either…"

He gave her a sudden squeeze, and she pulled back, looking him in the eye. She found him staring right back. "Kembyr, I am not pretending now. I will not call you 'my love' any longer, because I am incapable of love. However…"

Bending his head down just slightly, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. At the particular moment she 'seemed like she needed it'. When he pulled back again, he explained, "I will, for tonight at least, continue to call you 'dear'. Because you have become dear to me…"

She smiled at him, and that smile soon bloomed into a grin. She was happy but she hesitated, not sure quite what to say at first. Finally she settled on the only thing that came to mind. "You… You're a real gem, Data…"

'You jewel…' Now a gem, apparently…?

He smiled softly at her, hoping he could finally tempt her to start. He still felt nothing, but after all the building up to it, he found himself very curious about what this woman would do in her heated moments of passion…

As if somehow able to sense his interest, however faint, she finally got in touch with her own, truest feelings on the matter. Hiking up one leg, her knee at his hip, she nodded to him, finally fully ready, and breathed out to him, "…Go ahead…"

He nodded back to her, then looked down, taking his member in hand and leading the tip to her entrance. Once aligned, he pushed upwards just barely. Her readiness and gravity took over from there, and in no time at all, he was inside her to the hilt.

Her mouth had fallen open into an 'O', and then she dipped her head down shyly, settling her forehead against his neck and collar. "Oh, Data…"

He proceeded at the slowest pace, but she quickly requested more of him, so he increased it to medium. That seemed to satisfy her for a little while, but again, it wasn't long before she asked him to go harder.

That was certainly interesting, given that the doctor had assumed she would want a slow setting. Perhaps Madison wasn't quite such an anomaly after all? He decided to inquire, "I also have a vibration setting. Would you like me to incorporate that?"

But to his surprise, she shook her head. "Huh? Oh no, I don't need that, just… Just a little bit more, maybe, please…?"

He acknowledged the request, and filed away the data. Increase speed of thrust 1%.

"Oooh, yes, that's good… Harder~"

2%.

"Ooh, yes, yes, just a –little- more…!"

5%?

"AH! WAIT! That's too hard!"

"Apologies. Three percent?" He readjusted the speed. Distracted by her pain, he didn't realize he said the last part out loud.

Until she started to giggle, pointing it out. "Three percent?" But then she nuzzled her cheek against his neck, affirming, "Mmm, yes, three percent is good… Three percent is really, really good…!"

"Noted." He indeed noted, making several adjustments to his overall sexuality program while her muscles started to spasm around him, and she reached between her legs to finish the job.

She made no immediate move to back away from him, to the contrary, she kissed his neck and dug her fingers into his shoulder for several minutes. After a while she finally looked back up at him, smiling widely as she shyly thanked him, "Data, that was amazing…"

"I am glad you enjoyed yourself… Dear."

Her smile turned a little sad at that. "I'm going to miss hearing you call me that… But I know it would hardly be professional…"

"Indeed it would not." He agreed right away, but quickly relented. "However… I would have no objections with considering us to be very dear friends from now on… Would you?"

She shook her head, genuine joy returning to her expression. But there was still that twinge of sadness and regret, deep, deep down. "…I really, -really- hope that someday… I can make you feel as good as you made me feel tonight…" She blushed, looking down. "And not just like that, but the feelings you've inspired in my heart… Even if not with me, Data. I very dearly hope you get to feel that with someone, someday…"

He bowed his head to her. "Thank you, Kembyr. I have great hope for this as well…"

Finally detangling themselves and stepping back from one another, Kembyr shyly covered herself up with the sheet from her cot, while Data redressed.

He looked up at her before he was about to leave. She looked like she was expecting something from him, so he inquired, "Do you have any last requests before I go?"

The gesture alone erased the aura of expectation, and she smiled at him, shaking her head. "Maybe…" She again contradicted herself. "…Just say, 'Sweet dreams, dear', okay?"

A sweet girl with simple requests. It was satisfying to fulfill them. "Sweet dreams, dear."

She grinned at him then. "They will be, sir… Because you'll be in them."

As the door closed behind him, he found himself puzzled by those last words. He wondered how she knew that, if she hadn't even fallen asleep yet…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO


	4. United Federation

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

This was the part where most people would feel especially apprehensive. Since Data could feel nothing of the sort, he instead mused on his other experiences. He had gathered quite a lot of really fascinating data, especially from Madison and Kembyr. He had to admit though, personally, he much preferred his time with Kembyr. It had just seemed… More natural, he supposed. Not that he really knew what natural was. All the same, his thoughts on the matter were fairly firm.

It wasn't until he was right in front of Tasha's door that he bothered to dwell on it. It would no doubt be 'awkward'. But would Tasha also be angry with him? It was certainly a possibility…

Preparing himself for it just in case, he stood tall as the door whooshed open, and his old friend looked up from. She was sitting on the cot, dressed in her usual uniform. She looked a little surprised at first when he initially arrived, but then she quickly smiled, probably in way that was meant to be assuring.

"…Hello, Data…" She murmured after a moment, patting the space next to where she was sitting on the cot. "Come, sit…"

He didn't immediately accept her offer, and instead remained standing. Tasha was under the assumption that he didn't yet know what he had done wrong. It was time to be forthcoming with that. "Tasha… One of the other women I was with tonight informed me of the romantic relationship you are attempting to begin with Geordi. I am very sorry if my offer to help has in any way damaged your relationship with him, or the relationship either of you have with me…"

Her eyes went wide for a moment. Then she looked away, slowly nodding. "So… You heard about that, huh…" Then she sighed irritably, and rolled her eyes. "Madison, right? I love that bitch but she is such a loud-mouth…"

Data paused, and then nodded in agreement. "Yes, and also yes. That would be a fair assessment, I believe…"

She paused for a moment herself, then resumed patting the space next to her in bed. "Come, Data. Sit next to me. We need to talk…"

He agreed, and crossed the room over to her, settling down next to her in a stiff sitting position, hands in his lap. Looking for all the world like a schoolboy who anticipated getting his knuckles swatted by the teacher's ruler. No, he still didn't feel it of course, but he behaved as though he was sure he ought to, considering what some of the other men had said, regarding 'We need to talk' being apparently one of the most frightening phrases a man could hear from a woman…

But Tasha held no real traces of fear. Her body language was far more calm than not. She even laid her forehead on his shoulder as she sighed, "Oh Data… Please stop looking like you think you did something wrong. It's making me feel worse, because I know if anyone is to blame, it was me…"

He looked up at her, and shook his head immediately. "You were not in control of the situation. No one was. You cannot be blamed anymore than anyone else."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "There's only so much truth to that, Data… Because, well, contrary to the belief of people who should know that it's best to keep their uninformed opinions to themselves around me, I was NOT throwing myself at anyone with two legs that day, I was only throwing myself at people I was already initially attracted to. That was the problem long before the intoxication ever was… And because I was always too much of a coward until now to address it, it still is a problem…"

He looked down at her, and she sat back up herself, not looking at him as she continued to tell him, "I spoke with Geordi before you came. He agrees that we should take this time tonight to get everything out in the open. To 'clear the air', before he and I can continue being intimate. He's always been so understanding... And he's not mad at you either, Data. Not really. He IS a little jealous, because you've been with me before he has. Twice, now…" She added with a wince to spare for her lover's feelings, even if he wasn't present. "But he understands the circumstances, and he doesn't hold it against you. So you don't have to worry about your friendship with either of us, Data…"

"That is a relief to hear." He acknowledged. "However, Tasha… In light of your relationship with Geordi, do you still wish to 'do what we did last time'? We could opt for a less intimate method…"

Finally at that she looked back at him. She didn't reply right away, she simply studied his face for a moment before shaking her head. "I know you don't need me to feel this way for you, but… I feel like I owe it to you, and to myself, to do better than we did that time. It wasn't right that time. It wasn't wrong either, of course, but… You're my friend, Data. A real true friend. I don't want our only experience together to be with me acting like the drunk chick at the party…"

"But everyone was 'the drunk chick at the party' that day?" Data reminded her, only to be hushed.

"Listen, Data." She persisted to explain. "Geordi and I are gonna be together after this no matter what. You and me… This is our time together, and there's no reason for us to make it feel forced. I would rather we just enjoy our company together, and then look back on it with fond memories instead of any embarrassment or shame…"

He was starting to understand. Except for one rather big thing, "But, Tasha… Having sexual relations with me, while on the cusp of a relationship with Geordi… By human standards, would that not be unethical…?" There was a word for it, 'cheating', but he found himself unwilling to use that word around Tasha…

"Normally, yes." She agreed right away. "But sometimes, Data… Sometimes things are a little more complicated… I mean you gotta understand, on a ship like this, secluded in space… People have to get along. Of course we all aspire to meet someone someday we wanna be with forever, but until then, it's very common for a lot of humans to bounce from one person to another. To try someone out to see if you really like them, to see if you're really compatible… To be quite frank, Data, if I broke up a friendship every time a girl-friend slept with a guy I was interested in, I wouldn't have many friends left. And I'm positive Geordi wouldn't throw away a friendship as special as the one he has with you, over little old me, either…"

He could only shrug helplessly. "I suppose I must take your word for it. Until I find a way to further my understanding, you humans and your constant contradictions elude me…"

Tasha bit her lip, thinking. "Yanno what, Data… You like music. I think I know a song that might explain it better than I could. Would you like to hear it?"

He looked up in surprise. He had not planned on asking Tasha to play him a song like he had asked Madison and Kembyr, so he of course was only too receptive to her idea, and agreed right away. "Yes. I would like that."

She smiled, releasing her bottom lip from between her teeth. "Alright. Computer, play Tasha's After Work Mix Number Eight, track two…"

There was a short pause, and then the song started with a gentle guitar accompanied by keyboard, and soon joined by an energetic drum beat.

A male singer called out, surrounded by an electric hum. 'All my friends… They're different people, anxious like the ocean in a storm…'

Apparently a little anxious herself, Tasha got up from her sitting position, and held out a hand in invitation to Data. An invitation to dance. He took her hand and got up, accepting as silently as she had offered…

She wrapped his arms around her waist, and then put her hands up on his shoulders. She started to sway side to side, and he followed her…

'When we go out, yeah we're electric. Coursing through our bodies 'til we're one…'

Sounded awfully familiar indeed… He was distracted by that thought at first, but then Tasha moved a hand from his shoulder to his jaw, getting his attention back on her.

'And why mess up a good thing baby? It's a risk to even fall in love…' She quirked her brow at him, letting him know to take note.

'So when you give that look to me, I better look back carefully, cause this is trouble…' Trouble? His mind repeated, wondering if that was the word he was supposed to be listening out for. And indeed the singer stressed, 'Yeah this is trouble!'

'I said ooh! Ooh!'

Suddenly Tasha had taken her hand off his chin and back to his shoulder, and the opposite hand at his shoulder had moved down his arm to his hand, which she took in hers and began swinging him around the room. He tried to keep up with the dance but he was a little distracted, what was the trouble he was supposed to be looking out for?

'You got me in the mood, mood! I'm scared, but if my heart's gonna break before the night will end, I said, ooh, ooh we're in danger!' There it was again, danger. What was the danger?

'Sleeping with a friend… Sleeping with a friend…'

…Oh.

'All my friends… Stay up past midnight, looking for the thing to fill the void…'

How many nights had he done just that indeed…

'I don't go out… Much like I used to, something bout the strangers and the noise…'

Data suddenly searched for Tasha's eyes, and found her looking a bit far away. It didn't take much pondering to figure out who she was thinking about right now. The person she had been staying at home with lately, instead of going out, of course…

'And why leave when I got you baby? It's a risk but babe I need the thrill…'

Looking up at him then, Tasha locked her gaze with him and smiled a small and calm, but slightly mischievous smile…

'I never said you'd be easy… But if it was all up to me? I'd be no trouble… Hey, we're in trouble!'

She twirled around the room with him again while the chorus played once more, but then very abruptly, she stopped and held him close and strong for the third act of the song's lyrics, holding his face and looking him in the eyes while these words played…

'We are both young, hot-blooded people! We don't wanna die alone!'

That of course didn't apply to him, so he recognized that this was a hint. It was referring to her, and Geordi. They were young, hot-blooded people. They didn't want to die alone, the way he was much more likely to…

'Two become one, it could be lethal… Sleeping with a friend…'

Data nodded to her. She sighed and thanked him with a smile.

'All my friends…'

Data thought of her, and Geordi. They would be what humans called a 'cute couple'…

'All my friends…'

He thought of all his other friends. Picard, Riker, Deanna, Worf…

'All my friends…'

He thought about the new friends he had made tonight. Shaunella, Madison, and Kembyr…

'All my friends…'

The chorus picked up once again, and Tasha led him through the room in one last twirl, while the song reminded them, 'If my heart's gonna break before the night will end, I said, ooh, ooh we're in danger… Sleeping with a friend…'

They stopped dancing. Tasha was looking into his eyes, holding his hand and the back of his shoulder.

He stared back at her. A moment passed by, until she finally blinked and stepped away from him. There seemed to be detectable amounts of 'awkwardness' around them, but thankfully Tasha was quicker to address it than he was. "So! Glad to hear you got a few more notches on your belt besides me tonight!" She teased him, poking him in the belly, just by the waistband.

He looked down at his waist, where she had poked. It was not a familiar phrase, so he answered in confusion, "I am not wearing a belt…?"

She rolled her eyes. "I meant, Data, that I'm happy for you now that you've had more sexual experiences than just with me. Like I said, it's fine to only be with one person, but most people have at least a few experiences. It's helpful to learning about yourself when it comes to sex. So what do you think, Data? Did you learn a thing or two?"

"I learned at least several things." Data agreed, ready to share his new knowledge, since Tasha seemed interested in the moment. "For example, it turns out that the average female can withstand much harder stimulation than my programming initially indicated!"

"…Oh! Really…" She replied dumbly a minute later, slowly starting to snicker.

He continued on, oblivious. "Yes, really. It is quite baffling how my father was so incorrect about the subject…"

She simply shook her head at his obliviousness. "I dunno, I think it kinda makes perfect sense…" He of course asked her to explain, so she went on, "It's just, your 'parents', Data… I can imagine making something as complex as you didn't left them with much time for other activities. Probably kept them shut inside most of the time too, so, I really doubt very much that they had any idea how freaky their fellow human beings in general could get..."

He paused to consider the answer, and while he did, something occurred to him. "…I believe, the proper response towards someone speaking of another person's parental figures in a sexual context is supposed to be revulsion, so… Gross, Tasha." He deadpanned.

She didn't apologize though, she only laughed. "Well, it's not like I can kill your mood!" She pointed out fairly, reaching over and giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

He accepted her hit neutrally. "Hopefully I do not manage to do just that myself, considering my record with such things so far…"

Her arms had wrapped around him in an instant, embracing him tight with her chin resting on his shoulder. "…Then let's just hurry up and get to it, before either of us do something stupid and ruin everything…"

Like starting to feel too much for an android who couldn't feel…

So she started to push him backwards, onto the bed. He let himself be led, and fell into a sitting position as soon as the back of his knees hit the mattress. She quickly followed, pulling her clothes off hastily, without thinking about it, before setting her naked body on top of his lap, straddling him.

He in the meantime had removed his pants, in anticipation of what his perfect memory informed him she was about to do. She started kissing him, though not on the lips like she had last time. This time she kept her kisses only for his cheeks and jaw and forehead.

Not that it mattered to him where she wanted to kiss him. In fact he'd much prefer it if humans didn't waste their time trying to include him in such rituals, but he supposed it was 'the thought that counted'…

"Oh, Data…" She went on to sigh, sitting on top of his naked genitalia, but not yet making a move to utilize them. She apparently still 'needed to talk' first. "I just… I just want it to be better than it was the first time…"

He nodded along with her statement. "I will do my best to enhance my overall performance from last ti—"

She started rolling her eyes, so he took that as an indication to stop talking. Soon after she amended, "I didn't mean it like that, Data…"

She apparently did not care to bother explaining it to him this time, though. Wasting no more time, she reached down between them, taking his tool and pushing it up into her body, leading them slowly together.

She set the pace first, starting with a slow roll, and the occasional bounce, peppered by her gasps and moans. Data had not been concerned about his performance the first time, but now, after having some experience, he could clearly tell that Tasha was expecting something of him… Surely she had to be, her pace was just the slightest bit faster than the last time…?

Hoping that it wouldn't 'kill the mood', he decided to go ahead and just ask. "Tasha, are you sure the slow speed and vibration setting is still to your liking…?"

She snorted, unable to help being distracted by it. "Data, you super-intelligent idiot… Yes, it's fine. Listen, I don't know what Madison told you—"

He decided to just go ahead and paraphrase it for it. "She said your tastes ran closer to hers…"

She quickly defied the information."But that is NOT the case! Not with you anyways… I admit, I can get really, extra… Passionate! With certain guys, yeah! But that's not what I ever wanted from, or for you, Data…"

He quirked his head. "Explain?"

"You already know—" She darkened a bit.

He quickly rephrased, "I mean, when you said 'for me'…"

"…Just figured, yanno, you obviously hadn't, so, I knew I shouldn't…"

She wasn't eager to supply more than that, but after thinking about it for a little while, he finally put the puzzle together. "…Ah. You were going easy on me, because I was a 'virgin', correct?"

She took a deep breath and then nodded as she let it out. "But I mean, besides that, I did want gentleness from you too! I don't know, I just couldn't see a guy like you not being as gentle in bed as you always are everywhere else… It's what I always liked most about you… But, then again…" She looked up at him, right in the eyes. "I'm not stupid either. I wasn't about to go corrupting your innocent soul and face the wrath of the Captain for it!"

She laughed for him, since she knew he wouldn't get it. He would soon though, she had no doubt of that. The captain and the other men wouldn't let him go long after this without checking up on him, and having a 'heart to heart', so to speak.

"Anyways, forget it…" She quickly followed up, pressing her cheek to his and winding one arm around his shoulders, while the other snaked down to the small space left between them. "Just hold me, Data… Just for tonight…"

Even if he got nothing out of this but information, he was glad to bring such pleasure to a friend. And even if it would never happen again, he would cherish the memory of it forever. He still wanted to know just what it was he was 'missing out on', but even if this was the furthest he could ever go, all in all, he could think of at least a few less constructive ways to spend an evening, but none that would provide him with such intriguing faces made by his human friends when they reached that mysterious summit, as Tasha was doing now, gasping and squeezing him…

Still. He was ready to paint that lake now…

But first, he should probably think of a way to end this encounter, a way that wouldn't leave her feeling 'awkward'. However that was a little easier said than done, considering that most of his knowledge about what to do after an encounter like this came from his romance program, and Tasha did not want to be romantic with him. So he supposed the only logical conclusion would be to go off the friendship program instead, which suggested that instead of a romantic kiss, he give her a hug.

He followed what he considered to be the most sensible advice, and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his forehead to her collar as he embraced her gently. He hoped it was acceptable…

She seemed to go stiff at first, and he almost wondered if he had done the wrong thing, when suddenly she grabbed him and squeezed him back, nuzzling her forehead against his. Almost like how Spot sometimes would do. He wondered if that might have been funny, if he were capable of humor.

After a few moments of both of them wondering what to say, something finally came to mind for Data. "Tasha?"

"Yes?"

He knitted his brow, unsure of the words coming from him now. "I… Understand why you would feel embarrassed or ashamed of the first encounter we had, and would rather remember this one instead. However… I just want you to know, that I do not hold it against you, and I never have. Besides the fact that I do not have emotions, I simply do not believe you did anything wrong. Wanting to help you was my primary goal Tasha, but I suppose if you were to say I had anything secondary in mind, it was this… That by that time, I was past the age most human males would have had their first sexual experience, so when an opportunity arrived, I suppose I just thought it must have been the appropriate time for such a thing… That is to say, I trusted you completely when you extended the offer to me, and not just because I knew what a capable officer you are, but because you were my friend. Admittedly, perhaps I should have reevaluated-"

Tasha suddenly put her hand up and shushed him with a finger to his lips. "Data, let me save you a lot of computing and processing and all that, and just… I guess we'll just say, we got caught up in the moment? Does that sound about right?"

He tilted his head. In a strange way it did make sense, in the kind of way that would make sense to a nonsensical human. "That is acceptable… I guess I just wanted you to know that our first encounter has always been special to me, and really, it gave me the confidence I needed to help the other ladies tonight, so… I suppose, at the very least, you could always say that you being the 'drunk girl at the party' still ended up saving a few lives, in the long run?"

Her eyes went wide and she snorted into a loud, short laugh. "Data! You adorable idiot…"

She hit her forehead against his a few times, then went back to hugging and squeezing him all over. Of course it didn't hurt but he couldn't help but wonder why some females liked to get a little rough with males, and surmised that it must be their way of getting back at them, psychologically speaking it would make sense anyways. He found the illogical trait endearing, so, he supposed in his own way, he found her to be an adorable idiot as well…

He wasn't about to tell Tasha that, though. As her friend, he knew that would be a very illogical thing to do...

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Though Data didn't report feeling at all unusual the next morning, Doctor Crusher insisted he take the next couple of days off for 'rest and reflection'.

"You went through a lot! Take a little time to process it all…" She advised, and though he didn't think it was necessary, he took her suggestion anyways.

So he did a lot of painting and violin playing the next couple of days, and on the evening of the second day, Geordi came to visit him in his quarters. Putting his hand up before Data had even said anything, he cut him off, "Listen, I'm only gonna say this once… We're cool, man."

Data nodded right away. It was the most preferable answer, and he already knew that by some men's standards, he was getting off extremely light.

So of course he couldn't fault Geordi for reaching over and giving him a friendly shove. "Yanno, just… Find your own girlfriend, man!"

Data smiled, and shrugged helplessly. "Perhaps I shall endeavor to…"

Geordi hummed in consideration of that. "Now there's an idea… And here's another one: The conference room. You should show up there tonight, about three hours from now."

Data raised a brow at him. "Oh? I should? And why is that?"

Crossing his arms, Geordi grinned at him. "Hey! You've given us all enough surprises the last couple days, let us get one in too!"

So he followed the suggestion without pressing upon the matter, arriving exactly three hours later to the second at the conference room. He noticed immediately not everyone he expected to be there was present. Only his fellow male officers were present, including the Captain, Riker, Geordi, and Worf.

"Well, well." Picard spoke up as soon as the door swished closed behind him. "The man of the hour~"

"Sir?" Data replied, heavily confused. "There seems to be a ritual taking place here, but I am not sure for what, exactly…"

Worf spoke up then, "We are drinking to you becoming, as the Captain phrased it, a 'newly Christened man'."

"I do not understand." He immediately intervened. "What cause is there for this when such a ritual is usually reserved for the celebration of the first experience-"

Riker reached over and patted him firmly on the back. "Well, we're not passing up the second chance to do so, especially not when your, ahem, 'patients' came out practically singing your praises…"

All of the men in the room began to snicker, though Geordi quickly sobered up and made a sort of 'but that's none of my business' arm-cross, and Picard quickly took over, "Yes, well, Shaunella had little to say although all that she did say was good, Kembyr was quite sweet on you for a while and Madison we could hardly get to shut up!"

He rolled his eyes and continued, "Of course half of it was mostly pomp and her denying she had any lasting attachment to you, you know the-lady-doth-protest-too-much and all that, but she went as far as to say you deserved an award for 'making her feel more human than she has in years'. She even joked, 'I'd make him a traditional egg breakfast except he couldn't taste it, so how about I go nick him a Faberge Egg somewhere?' You see Data, traditionally among humans the female will often prepare eggs for breakfast the morning after intimacy, it being a symbol of healthy fertility for obvious reasons. So based on this suggestion and in honor of your valiant efforts to protect the health and fertility of these ladies, we made a little something special for you…"

Reaching into his pocket, Picard pulled out a little black jewelry box, and upon opening that, revealed a pin shaped into the visage of a miniature golden Faberge egg, with four small gemstones set into it: A yellow topaz, a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald, which were patterned in a diamond shape in the middle of the oval egg.

It was indeed aesthetically pleasing, and very well crafted. "Thank you, sir. I will treasure it."

Picard gestured to him with his drink. "Yes, well, see that you do, but of course don't go showing it off like your other medals, either. It's quite a story behind it, after all…"

Data nodded, "Right, sir. No 'kissing and telling', correct?"

"Exactly, Mr. Data."

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A few months after the incident, things had been proceeding as normal. Except that lately, someone seemed to be watching him from a distance…

Not Madison, although she had adopted a healthy amount of respect for him, calling him 'sir' at least 88% of the time, and only occasionally calling him 'Robo-nerd' or 'Tin Man'. Surely Tin Man had to be a step up from a tin can or cup.

And not Miss Shaunella – She had recently been dating a distant relative of Keiko's, a girl named Kasumi.

Kembyr seemed to have formed a bit of an attachment, however…

She wasn't disrupting anything though, so he waited, and after a short while she finally came up to him one day after work, while he was about to head into his quarters for the night, she suddenly came over and shyly tugged on his sleeve before quickly releasing it. "Um, Mister Data, Sir?"

He turned his attention to her. "Yes?"

She ducked her head down, avoiding his eyes. "I… I've been thinking lately, sir! It's just, I've never slept with a guy I hadn't at least dated… It keeps weighing on my conscience, so I was wondering, I mean, well, if you maybe might…" She took a deep breath to compose herself and tried again. "Data, sir, would you like to go on a date with me sometime…?"

He didn't have to consider the offer very long. "I have not been on a date in a while. I think I would like that. Thank you… However," He amended, bringing up what had been in the back of his mind. "I must admit though, I find myself wondering… Is this date merely to ease your conscience regarding having intercourse with me before such a formality had taken place? Or are you interested in dating me on a regular basis? I would not object either way, I am simply curious…"

It was a simple and forthcoming question, but she seemed flustered by it all the same. "Well… I mean, that's all up to you, sir… If you enjoy yourself on our first date and don't mind having another, well, I certainly wouldn't mind either…"

He nodded, processing this information. But he still wasn't yet satisfied with what had been provided. "Just one more thing, Kembyr… If you are interested in dating me long-term, I suppose it is only fair to ask… Are you sure your desire to procreate someday is less important than your desire to date me? Since as we both know, I can never—"

She cut him off there. "Hey. Never say never, right?" She implored, smiling gently. "Maybe someday you'll find another way to bring a new android into the world, and if so I would be just as happy to have them call me 'mother' as any other child... And even if not, adoption could be an option… But until then, we at least have our cats, right?"

He was about to nod, but then he looked up in surprise. "You have a cat?"

She quickly pulled out her communicator and projected a holographic image from it, of a very fluffy white cat with golden-yellow eyes. "His name is Duchess~ I, um…" She quickly added bashfully, "I kinda thought he was a girl at first…"

Not long after that, Spot was dating someone too.

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(( One more epilogue-chapter to go (Will be set more after the first two movies, Generations and First Contact, but yeah eff the other two movies, wish fulfillment ftw lmfao XD), and then that'll be all she wrote! Hope you guys like it so far! Peace til the last piece! :D ))


	5. Epilogue

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Kembyr was a kind woman. But even the kindest woman in the world had her limits…

Data was… All too acutely aware lately that he'd kind of been a really, really unsatisfactory boyfriend to her recently, to say the least. That was, if he was even still her boyfriend at all.

Of course he had many reasons to finally try the emotion chip he'd had in his possession for years, but to interact more authentically with his new girlfriend was high on that list. However, as soon as he installed it, he found himself so overwhelmed by even the most basic emotions, that he was quite distracted at first. Then, there was the crash of the ship…

Thankfully the casualties had been light, and Kembyr did survive, but she didn't make it out without some extensive damage. She broke her dominant arm and her clavicle, and hit her head pretty bed, and naturally after that he thought it best to give her time to heal physically as well as mentally and emotionally after so much stress. It was especially hard for her, trying to be effective as a doctor-in-training while also being hurt herself. It made him feel like a bit of a failure, so he stayed away from her and instead focused on doing everything productive that he could.

Of course no one else thought of him as a failure. Everyone told him that he did the best he could and no one blamed him, in fact they all viewed him as a hero, but Data still felt guilty that he wasn't able to minimize the damage from the crash even further…

However, he was feeling hundreds of other things too, so it was hard to focus on just one of the many new sensations constantly assaulting him, especially with all the work there was to do with salvaging and rebuilding. He did visit her at least a few times, but it was far more often just checking up on her than anything romantic. However, she didn't stress the need for anything more, and he was very busy, he didn't think to offer it.

A couple of years passed and he was still getting used to the emotion chip, but thankfully he was getting the hang of it, and thankfully he had figured out how to turn it off when it got to be too much.

He had been just thinking about finally giving romance another try with his new emotional capabilities, was just starting to think he might finally be ready… And then shit hit the proverbial fan, again.

Now any good girlfriend should understand 'needing some space' now and again, especially if her boyfriend is an android who is feeling emotions for the first time in his life. But no good boyfriend should expect his lover to be okay with him having sexual relations with another woman, and it was hard to deny that was exactly what he had done…

Not… Intentionally, of course. But it had been done all the same, and... He had received immense pleasure from it. He had informed her of all the events of that mission via letter, but it had now been a month since sending it, and she still hadn't gotten back to him.

It made him… Sad. And anxious. It wasn't a good or fun feeling. But he knew he deserved to feel it. He could only imagine how she was feeling, after all. Two years to hear almost nothing from the man you had given your heart to, only for him to finally get in touch with you, to tell you that he had had relations with another woman in the absence.

So he really didn't blame her for not getting back to him, but he figured they ought to at least have a clean break. To 'clear the air', as Tasha referred to it. So he contacted her again, and politely requested that they meet in his quarters the following night.

He almost expected her not to come, but at the very last minute, she arrived. She stood quietly at the door, pensive, and just as quietly, he ushered her into the room.

Awkwardness… Was way more intense than Data had ever imagined it would be. He had never been sure before why humans avoided it to such great lengths, but now, he got it…

"…Ahem," He finally began after a few tense seconds of them both waiting for the other to speak. "Did you, perhaps, read my briefing already? About the situation I was involved in…?"

Silent as the dead, she simply nodded.

Swallowing at a strange lump in his throat, Data nodded back. "…I understand if you want to break up with me."

After a very long pause, so long that Data was almost about to say something else, she finally shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes until they spilled. "I don't want that…"

He couldn't understand why not. "If being with me causes you pain…"

But she cut him off quickly, "That's not the case, though. It's being WITHOUT you that has been causing me so much pain… "

He nodded in understanding. With how obviously upset she was, he almost expected her to run out on him any second. But to his surprise, she instead sat down at his work table. So he quickly sat down next to her, trying to be as supportive as he knew how to be.

Even with emotions, it wasn't easy. If anything it made it even harder. "…I am sorry." He finally told her after a few failed tries.

Suddenly, Kembyr seemed a lot more angry than sad, which alarmed him, especially when she started to protest, "Data, don't apologize for that! She forced you! She held you down and threatened you! What kind of person would I be if I made you say sorry for something like that happening to you?"

He relented, and answered her honestly. "Not a very sympathetic one…" Which of course was the exact opposite of Kembyr. Except… "But that wasn't exactly the whole situation…"

He looked her in the eyes then. It made it even more awkward but he felt like she deserved that, at least. "I cannot deny, Kembyr… I was tempted. It may have been for less than a second, but the sensations the Borg Queen made me feel that day… I have never felt anything like it." He was forced to admit.

For a minute, he thought she was going to start crying. But instead, she suddenly slammed a fist down on his table, and yelled out loud, "DAMN IT!"

He'd never seen her act like that before. It was a little bit frightening, though not nearly as frightening as the Borg Queen had been, so he waited patiently for her to vent, which she did by following up her outburst with, "It's not FAIR!"

She did start crying then, giving no further clarification right away, until he finally asked of her, "What is not fair…?"

She didn't move her face from where it was planted in her hands, but after a moment or two she finally composed herself enough to answer, "…It's not fair that she made you feel that way. I always wanted to be the one to make you feel that way…"

Even with emotions, he still wasn't entirely sure what to say to that at first. He was touched by her concern for him, but he wasn't sure just what could be done about it, all things considered.

"I am afraid the technology that made it possible in the first place was completely destroyed…" He informed her, remorseful but not extremely concerned just yet. As tempted as he had been by the Queen's technology, it had still been incredibly satisfying to destroy it and the control she had over him, too…

Kembyr didn't seem satisfied at all, though. She seemed like something was twisting her up inside. Something was clearly on her mind, but she was having a very hard time getting herself to say it. She often had trouble like that, but it seemed much worse this time.

Data studied her face for a moment, until something finally clicked in his head. This emotion Kembyr had been displaying the last few minutes, it was almost unrecognizable because he had never felt it himself, and rarely saw it coming from others. But now that he thought about it, she fit every classic symptom, so certainly it had to be… "Kembyr, are you… Jealous?"

Getting up from the chair again, she threw up her arms in frustration, and began to pace. "YES!" She admitted passionately. "I am INSANELY jealous! I'm so jealous I don't even know what to do with myself! I've never been so jealous in my entire LIFE!"

Strangely though, she didn't actually seem very mad at him for making her admit to this. In fact, if anything, it seemed to provide her some relief. Well, for a moment or two, until she suddenly rounded back on him, and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Damn it, Data… I've never been the kind of girl to want to take something that didn't belong to me, but as long as you're still mine… Nobody is taking you away from me, either."

She sealed this vow with a passionate kiss to his lips, claiming him for a full minute until she finally pulled back, her eyes locked onto his. "Data, please…" She begged him, her voice full of want. "Please tell me you can recreate the technology…"

Though he couldn't feel the physical pleasure, he was feeling an overwhelming amount of love, trust and gratitude for her at the moment. Many if not most women would be furious with him, and yet all she continued to have on her mind was his pleasure and well-being…

"I…" He stammered at first, unsure if he should answer 100% truthfully, because truthfully, it would not be a simple undertaking, if it were even possible at all. "I… Would like to…" He finally admitted, "But, if it were even possible, it would probably take years to develop…"

She leaned in closer, until her lips were right next to his ears, and pleaded again, "Please… I'm sure it would be a complicated task – Heck, I could never even dream of doing something like it, so I know I wouldn't be much help, but… Data?"

Pulling back again just slightly, she looked him square in the eyes. "I promise you… I would make it worth your while…"

Sweet Kembyr was normally never so outwardly sexual. The very few times she had requested stimulation since becoming his girlfriend were very polite and shy requests. But right now, she was clearly giving him what his male coworkers would refer to as 'bedroom eyes'… She was, essentially… Begging him for it.

Though he could feel no pleasure yet, his emotion chip was going wild at the anticipation of feeling it again. Love. So much love. And so much excitement…

"I… Suppose it could not hurt to try…" He choked out at first, but once his reasonable and reliable old brain took over for his flighty new feelings, he quickly amended, "I mean, it COULD hurt, actually… Feeling pleasure unfortunately also allows for the feeling of pain, so any place I put the graft would then become my 'Achilles heel', so to speak…"

Of course being empathic she immediately settled down a bit at the mention of pain for him. "Oh, well, that's true… But then, Data, you wouldn't be putting it anywhere obvious like your arm again, right? I mean, I'm just saying…"

She was getting flustered and her body temperature was rising again. "That, you know – Most men, if you asked them if they could only feel one place on their body, wouldn't have to think twice about which place they'd pick!" And indeed, she ended the hint with an obvious look down at his groin. "And then, well, nobody would even see it, since you'd be wearing pants!"

"…" He had to admit, that actually made a lot of sense.

And now, he had a lot of work to do.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Data had originally estimated that the project would take him at least two or three years, but with proper motivation, he was surprised to find that he had what he believed should be a "fully functioning" prototype after only one year and five months, and all while doing it with his free time and using only ethical means. Not too shabby.

After making sure there should be no obvious bugs, he then informed his girlfriend of the good news, and they then quickly set up a date in order to test it…

He made sure to get the whole evening off, and then even prepared his room with romantic offerings, in order to make it more special for Kembyr. He procured a bouquet of red roses and baby's breath in a crystal vase, which he placed in the middle of the table, replacing Jenna's ornament, which he moved to the desk. He also prepared a little box of chocolates in the shape of a heart, and a bottle of pink champagne, which he left to get chilled in a bucket of ice.

When Kembyr arrived, she was still in uniform, but she quickly asked to borrow his rarely-used bathroom, in order to "Change into something more comfortable". When she emerged, she was wearing a shiny, silken robe, in a shimmering color that seemed to move from dark emerald green to sapphire blue in the light. It was definitely a robe meant for a romantic night in, as the hem of it barely reached halfway down her thigh…

He found himself staring, and wasn't a damn bit ashamed of it, even when Kembyr finally mentioned it, smiling, "Well? Do you like what you see…?"

He nodded right away. "I really like that color on you…"

Her smiled stretched into a grin, and instead of thanking him, she used her lips instead to kiss him.

He allowed her to for a moment, and reciprocated as best he could. But he couldn't deny, he was distracted, and soon she pulled back to ask, "Data… Did you want to begin now…?"

So much excitement. So much anticipation. But he reigned it in, forcing himself to stay calm as he took one of her hands in his own. "Kembyr… Before we begin, may I ask you to listen to a few requests? If you would not mind, there is a certain way I would like this to be done…"

Instead of being at all nervous at the prospect, Kembyr was immediately all too eager to please. Her eyes went wide and she nodded, her pulse suddenly racing. She answered with her throat strangely thick, "Yes, Data… Please, tell me exactly what you want…"

Such a sweet woman. So eager to help and to please, like him. But also, clearly, he could tell that the idea of him being excited was greatly exciting her…

And he was definitely excited, definitely ready. He quickly went over to the bed he had installed in his room for their use, and sat down on it. She quickly slid across the room wearing pink rose socks, and then knelt before him, as delicate and poised as a princess in her short and silky blue-green gown, despite what she was about to do…

She normally kept her hair in a ponytail for practical reasons, but tonight she let her hair fall loose.

She waited patiently, half sitting and half kneeling on the floor while he pulled his pants down past his knees, and then off completely, folding them and setting them aside.

He had grafted over the 'head' of the shaft, and an extra inch or so besides that. The rest of his length was not grafted for feeling, but that small area was more than enough, especially since it had to be guarded with a cup when not in use, now that it was semi-permanent.

She stared at the strange flesh, a slightly more realistic and yet alien shade of flesh than the rest of him. It did look odd, but her thirst persisted. Earnest to begin, she pined for him again, "Just tell me what to do, Data, sir…"

He nodded tensely, hands on his thighs, studying her beauty from above as he slowly, tensely replied. "I would like you to begin by merely blowing air onto it…"

She nodded up at him, very serious. Bending her head down, she took in a slight inhalation. Then she moved in just a little bit closer, and let her breath out upon his skin with a gentle, "Haaah…"

For some stupid reason he couldn't begin to grasp now, he had actually assumed it would be comparable to the feeling the Borg Queen had given him. Not even close. The Borg's breath had been deathly chilly, and when she blew upon him, it was like an icy shiver. Kembyr used the breath from the back of her throat, blowing upon his skin the way someone would when trying to keep someone warm. And it was warm. So warm. No, it was downright hot…

Involuntary gasps left his mouth, fallen agape. His eyes fluttered shut and he could only gasp for the air he never before even felt like he needed, until now. Tingly. Prickly. So, so HOT, and then, cool shivers again, but not from her breath, but the lack of it.

"Oh my god, Data…" He heard her whisper, and glanced down to find her staring up at him with wide, hungry eyes, and what was probably getting to be an uncomfortable amount of heat gathering in the pit of her stomach… She rubbed her lips together a bit, spreading the remnant of some mostly-dried lip gloss as she mused, "You look like…" She suddenly grinned. "Like your prototype is a complete success…"

Obviously. All the same he protested, "I think it still needs more testing…"

"Of course, sir…" She replied with a soft-spoken enthusiasm. "Actually, I think I'd like to run a little test myself…?"

"Permission granted." He replied immediately, immensely curious about her idea.

Nodding, she then bent her head down close to his member, like she was about to blow on it again. But instead, her lips inched closer and closer to his new organic skin, and he started to gasp even before the soft, moist touch of her lips reached his sensors…

So this was a kiss… He had always known there was something to it, even before actually feeling the sweet sensation for himself, since humans liked doing it so much and so often… Well now he finally got why.

Her hot breath was still upon him, but now there was also the plush shape of her lips, pressing against him. It was a slightly firm kiss, and she ended it by pulling away with a barely audible smack.

As soon as she had pulled her lips away for even a second, he began to beg, his voice hoarse from both the pleasure overwhelming him, and the emotions he was feeling for her. So much love, so much gratitude, and now, something else. Something similar to love… Desire, he suddenly realized. "Please, give me more…"

She was smiling wide, nodding in complete compliance. Immediately she pressed her lips against the head of his flesh again, but this time instead of a firm kiss, it was a soft one, and she proceeded to lay more of these soft kisses over every inch of his new feeling flesh…

"AH!" He called out, each of her new kisses replacing the pleasure from the last. "Yes, please, do not stop doing that… Kiss me, all over…!"

She complied without responding verbally, opting to use her mouth instead for laying down more kisses upon his skin. Soft kisses and firm, insistent kisses. Dragging kisses, sweeping kisses. Dry kisses mostly, but at the slightest hint of moisture, Data's breath hitched, and his functions stalled…

She suddenly pulled away, and he was actually glad for it, he had needed a minute to collect himself again. But before he had collected TOO much of himself, he heard her call out to him, "Data…"

He looked down. She was smiling shyly, but also mischievously at him. Then she reached down, opened her mouth, stuck her tongue out just barely, and slid the tip of the slimy appendage and at least two or three thousand of her ten thousand or so taste buds across the tasteless synthetic flesh. He couldn't imagine what she was getting out of it, but it was by the most amazing, incredible sensations of his life. An electric wave of pleasure crashed down upon his senses, followed by some slight static. He already knew he was overloading by then but he couldn't dare stop her when she reached the top of his head, opened her mouth wide, and breathed her hot wet breath upon him, about to completely envelop him…

Just the knowledge of what she was about to do was too much. It reached a point where he was sure it just had to be too much, it was too good, and then, it was. His sight and all other senses went dark, and he fell back onto the bed behind him, unconscious.

Kembyr looked up in alarm as she realized what happened, gasping sharply, "Data?!"

She climbed up to his side but it was only a few short seconds before his eyelids fluttered open again. "Data, are you okay?!"

He quickly nodded, but didn't get up immediately either. He stayed firmly down, and took one long sigh. "I am –definitely- okay…"

She sighed too, with relief, but then quickly groaned and hugged him, but in a grasping sort of way that suggested great frustration, burrowing her forehead against his collar. "It seems your prototype needs more work after all. Oooh, and I had barely gotten started… I wanted to give you MORE…!"

Her concern for him was always endearing. But his mind was already filling with new ideas and designs to improve his prototype, and he needed a welcome distraction while he pondered them. Thankfully, there was never a more welcome distraction than his all-too-easy-to-please girlfriend.

"You have given me more than enough for the time being…" He informed her seriously, but with an easygoing smile, as he wrapped his arms around her back, and smoothed his fingertips down over her spine. "Now it is time for you to focus on yourself…"

The sexual act she had been about to perform on him, oral sex... That was simply amazing. He was suddenly very eager to try that on her too. And Kembyr was about to find out, an android who doesn't need to breathe is a natural at oral...

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Thankfully a few more months of testing and debugging was all that was needed to fix the problem, and with a willing test subject in his bed every night, it was hardly a problem at all.

So once he had succeeded in perfecting his new pleasure sensor technology, he again had the time for both new and old projects. He went back to his study of humanity, and to his study of android technology. He still hadn't given up on his dream of someday procreating an android child as his successor, but had no intentions of activating another life-form if he could not be reasonably sure he'd never have to deactivate it, especially now that he would have to feel the aftermath. Until he was absolutely sure that he had perfected the technology, he would not take that chance again…

Until then, there were plenty of other distractions. It wasn't long before Tasha and Geordi had gotten married, and Data was so moved by the ceremony and their happy faces, he couldn't help but start wondering about marriage for himself.

That, and the fact that when Tasha had thrown her bouquet, it had landed right into Data's arms. He hadn't even been trying to catch it. It literally just landed on him. But the second it had, the entire room started laughing and shouting, "Looks like Data will be the next to get married!"

It was apparently a human superstition, which he normally did not put any faith in, and still didn't. But since it had been something he was already thinking of anyways, well… What could it hurt to get a ring?

Actually proposing the question to her though, that took a little extra time and a lot of extra courage. Of course when he finally did propose it was Kembyr who was suddenly all nerves, asking him several times if he was absolutely sure she was the one he wanted. Once he finally managed to assure her, she had fallen into his arms with tears and kisses and a hundred, "Yes yes yes!"-es.

So there was soon a second ceremony to celebrate, and not a single member of the ship could bear to miss it. Madison even made a short appearance, giving his back a hard slap and exclaiming, "Congrats on tying the knot, Tin Man!"

He loved her but she was such a bitch…

Almost two years had passed since then, and every day was wedded bliss. Kembyr had permanently moved in with him, and except when he took the night watch, she slept next to him in his bed. Of course he didn't sleep, but he enjoyed watching her rest while reading a book or thinking about his projects and various ways to improve them.

Sometimes he found himself thinking about her, though. About how selfless and helpful she always was. Always willing to explain something to him patiently and without judgment. Never laughing at him when he did something odd, only from genuine enjoyment of being with him…

He was always trying to think of a way to show her how grateful he was. He often gave her trinkets to show he cared, like flowers and chocolates and cards and other typical romantic fare. But though she was always grateful to him, he never felt like it was enough, considering all she did and everything she sacrificed for him…

One night though, while studying her sleeping face, and the way she hugged the pillow, he found himself wondering… Why did she really have to sacrifice anything?

The next day, he requested to speak with the captain in private.

"Everything alright, Data?" Picard had inquired after pouring him a stiff drink. Data absolutely hated the taste of alcohol, and yet, he found himself craving a shot every once in a great while. He also now kept mints and candy on his person for his breath afterwards, as his wife refused to kiss him when his breath smelled like alcohol. But she couldn't bear to deny him one of his few material joys in life either, so as long as he covered up the bitter taste with something sweet afterwards, she tolerated it.

He had a few lemon drops in his pocket, so he accepted the quarter-full tumbler of brandy that the captain offered gratefully. "Everything is fine, sir. But I was hoping you could perhaps help me with something…"

The captain raised his glass up, and tilted it gently in his direction in an informal 'cheers'. "Oh? And what's that?"

"Go ahead and take your drink first, sir."

"…Ah." He did, and then after putting the glass back down on the table, "Proceed!"

"Sir, I request your assistance in locating a human sperm donor."

"…" Picard quickly took the brandy back out and started pouring himself a second one. "…Going all out this Valentine's Day, are we, Mr. Data…?"

Neutrally, Data shook his head. "No, sir. It is more of an anniversary present, but…" He quickly cleared his throat, an indication to the captain to let him finish first. "Sir, I am aware that this is nothing like my usual formal requests, however I would like to assure you, I have definitely given it a lot of very serious thought. The fact is my wife has always wanted a child, and she has told me that she is fine with mothering an android, but I have begun to feel as of late, that it is not fair to ask her to give up one for the other… An android child could never replace a human child, after all. And she has given me so much, sir… So many meaningful emotions and feelings, which I will never forget and cherish forever. All I have given her in return are trinkets, objects that will fade with time… I want to give her this, but also Captain, I want it for myself. I believe I would have much to offer as a parent, and if my wife is willing to mother an android child, it is only fair that I should also wish to father a human child. And I do."

Picard began to sip his second drink, but he sipped it slowly, in thought. "I'm not about to patronize you, Data… I am aware you have given this a lot of serious thought, and I am aware that you are an admirable character and would make an excellent father, to a human or an android. I can't say for sure if anyone will accept even knowing all that, Data, but… I will ask around a bit for you. I suppose I do have a few good men in mind…"

Data grinned gratefully, and downed his brandy in celebration of the good news, wincing hard at the horrible taste after. "Eeeyuck! I LOVE how much I HATE this stuff!"

Picard went ahead and poured him a refill. "Enjoy it while you can, old friend – You can't be seen drinking liquor once you have a baby!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

About a week later, Data was called into Picard's office after-hours. Having a good guess what this was about, Data turned off his emotion chip at first when he entered, unable to stop shaking from how nervous and excited he was.

"Mr. Data." Picard greeted him as he entered. He was smiling too, so certainly it had to be good news. Sure enough, he simply let him have it, "I believe I have found a more than suitable donor for you. They are waiting outside, so I shall go out and let them in, and the two of you can talk privately. Alright?"

Data nodded neutrally, and then waited patiently as the captain exited the room. Just a few short minutes later, the doors whooshed open again, and there stood… Geordi.

Data blinked in surprise, even with his emotion chip turned off. He quickly turned it back on though, wanting to feel the surge of gratitude for this, even though it still came with the nervousness, too. "Geordi… You are my donor…?"

It was probably a 'dumb question' but it felt awkward not to ask it anyways. In response, Geordi grinned at him, and nodded a few times, stepping into the room. "Well, I will be as long as we're both fine with the stipulations."

Data nodded right away, looking very grim and serious despite how excited he was. "Name them."

Geordi went right to it. "I want this to be considered something like an "Open Adoption". I want the child to be made aware from an early age that you are their adoptive parents, and that I am their biological father. It would be impossible to hide the fact anyways, and besides that, I would still like to know my child, and for my child to be able to come to me if they ever need help with anything. Alright?"

Data nodded right away. "Perfectly acceptable."

Smiling in a secret sort of way, Geordi crossed his arms as he went on, "I also want this to be an open adoption, because I want my child to know their sibling… Which Tasha just informed me a few weeks ago that we will soon be having!"

His nervousness smoothing away at this abundance of good news, Data smiled widely. "Congratulations, Geordi!" Then he snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "We should have a drink to celebrate! We cannot be seen drinking once we have a baby, after all."

Knowing that the captain wouldn't mind, Data poured both himself and Geordi a small scotch. After handing him his, Data held his own glass up to his friend in a toast. "I really cannot thank you enough for this, old friend…"

With a suddenly very mischievous quirk of his lip, Geordi held his drink up to Data as well, but didn't immediately take a sip. "Well, yanno Data, just saying… You did sleep with my woman. If turnabout is fair play, and it is, I kind of have to, you know… Knock your wife up now, too. Sorry~"

He was clearly not apologetic at all, and took his drink grinning around the glass. Data sat watching him stiffly, processing the response for a moment. Finally he mentioned, "I recognize this was humorous, and yet I am…" Oh, what was the phrase humans used for this feeling… Ah, yes, that's right. He looked up, a bit accusingly at Geordi, as he announced, "Pissed off!"

But Geordi only continued to grin at him, a wide grin with absolutely no shame. "Hey!" He mentioned proudly, as if a great discovery had been made. "Now you know how I felt!"

The room went silent for a few seconds. Then both men burst into laughter.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

So. A couple days later, from the privacy of his home, Geordi then went on to… Produce Data a sample of his genetic material, which Data then stored until later that night, when he went home to give the good news to his wife. It was a bit over a week early for their anniversary still, but he didn't want to wait…

He filled the table up with flowers, mostly roses but also a handful of carnations and daisies, in mostly red, white and pink with a few yellow. Then he threw a few more flowers onto the floor, just for good measure.

When Kembyr got home from work, she noticed the glorious mess and quickly shut the door behind her, biting her lip to keep from grinning too wide right away. "Data… What in all the worlds is all this? Valentine's day isn't for another two days, and our anniversary isn't until almost a week after that…" February eighteenth. He was planning to celebrate with her then too~ "What gives? You're normally punctual, not impulsive… What are you hiding~?" She almost-guessed, smiling innocently at him.

"You know me too well, dear." He smiled back, staring into her eyes as he gathered her into a loose hug. "I have a very special surprise for you tonight…"

She shivered. "Oh? Very special? Well now I'm very curious!"

He nodded. As well she should be. "Yes, but, my love… It is also a very serious surprise…" He almost-confessed, squeezing her just a little tighter.

"Oh…?" She was getting a little worried, so he proceeded with haste.

"Kembyr… What if I told you that one of my human male comrades had donated his… Genetic material. And that if you were willing to try, he has given us permission to try and conceive a child with it. Would you be interested?"

Kembyr didn't move. Her face was frozen for quite a few seconds. If she were an android, Data would have thought she was short-circuiting. But then finally she blinked a few times, and just went, "…What?" Then she blinked a few times more, and he gave her the extra time since he had spoken clearly. And soon enough, she resumed, "Wait – WHAT?" Apparently that still needed to be stressed. But then, "Wait, WHO?"

He was admittedly a little nervous by her not-so-immediate enthusiasm. "Geordi… He said that is it acceptable to him as long as it is an 'open adoption', that the child knows about him and the sibling they're going to have from Tasha… Is that acceptable? Is this all acceptable…? You… Do you still desire to have a human child?"

She remained still for a few seconds, then drew a long breath. "Data, it's… Complicated…"

Oh no. Tears. She was crying. But she was also talking, slowly at first, then flowing like her tears, "I mean... Of course! Of course I wanna try again and I hope it would work out this time, but of course I'm also really nervous about it not working out… But, yes! I accept this Data, if you want this too then of course I'll try again with you. I trust you completely…"

Despite all the knowledge of emotions he had gained he was very confused. "Darling, are you sure? About the agreement, but also, are you sure you are okay? You answered affirmatively but you are crying… A lot, dear…" He was feeling really helpless even though he was also really happy.

She explained, "It's one of those 'so happy you cry' moments, Data…"

"Ah." Sure enough, his eyes were getting a little moist too, even though he was smiling. But they dried up soon enough when his wife started pressing her smiling lips to his…

Several more kisses later, and he finally interrupted, "Just give me a few moments in the bathroom to get ready, alright?"

She nodded, and he stole away to the privacy of his bathroom to prepare the sample Geordi had given to him. Once the sample was in place, he put everything back together and stepped back outside, not bothering to put his clothes back on. His sexuality program indicated that doing so occasionally was considered 'spontaneous' and 'sexy', but besides that, it was just plain convenient, since he was going to take them off anyways.

And it was funny, because even though she was his wife and had seen him naked plenty of times, Kembyr still blushed and giggled in embarrassment when he emerged, lightly scolding him, "Data!"

But she wasn't being too serious, and it was obvious she had been trying to impress him too, because in his absence she had quickly changed into another shimmering silken robe, although she one was not green or blue. This one was blood red, the deepest crimson.

He took a long look up and down, and then breathed out, "I –really- like that color on you… But, you know…" He looked up and smirked at her. "I think I will like it even better off of you…"

Giggling madly, she let herself be scooped up by him, and the two kissed and fooled around several minutes more until they finally found themselves by the bed. Only then did Kembyr stop to mention, "We normally please you first, since it always gets me in the mood… But I suppose you'll want to save it til the end this time, since you're gonna~..." She couldn't help but giggle again. "I can't believe it…"

"Cannot believe what?" But he was still smirking…

"…Don't make me say it! It's too embarrassing!" She pleaded.

But he simply pleaded right back, knowing she could not resist him. "Say it…"

Weak in the knees and everywhere else, she melted against him. She could not resist him… In the long run. But she could certainly tease him back. "Nnn, no, not yet… Not until you get me much closer, anyways…"

A challenge. His sweet wife rarely issued them so he eagerly accepted. "Very well then. Let us get you there~"

Not that it was really a challenge for him. Two years of marriage weren't for nothing, after all. He knew well what to do by now…

'Kiss her all over' meant kissing that focused on the face, neck, shoulders and breasts.

Particularly the neck and breasts, she was especially sensitive to being fondled while he gave her neck hard kisses with grazes and nips of teeth here and there.

She had started to wrap her legs around his back and buttocks, and press her heated sex against him – One of the most obvious hints she had to give him that she was ready to 'get on with it'. But, although he usually was 95% of the time, tonight he wasn't in the mood to just give her what she wanted so easily. He wanted to hear her beg. Not in a mean-spirited way of course, but he had gone through a lot of trouble, so he deserved to be asked extra nicely…

"Oooh, Data, come on…" She mewled, like one of the new kittens Spot was soon to expect. "Don't make me wait any longer, pleeeease…"

He was getting closer to getting what he wanted from her. This was a good start for now, but he was definitely just getting started. For her love was like a well, deep in many senses of the word. Her mind and soul first and foremost of course, always eager to help him however she could. But he found lately that her body was something like a well too, dark and damp and easy to get lost in once you'd fallen in…

Even with the pleasure sensor not yet activated, the emotion chip alone had a lot to say about the act. Intimacy. He had always referred to his time with Tasha as being intimate, and well, it was. But to actually truly know, to not just know but –feel- what that word meant, was another thing entirely. Because her body was like a well, but the pleasure she produced for herself and for him… That was like the current in an enormous ocean. Massive and all too easy to be swept away by. True, he still sometimes also thought about things like plans for the ship and new types of cat food for Spot while pleasuring her when his pleasure sensor was off, but it was much, much harder to be completely preoccupied with things like that, when a lovely and loving woman needed most of your attention, and you now truly, -intimately- knew what she was feeling...

Plus tonight was different, tonight was special. Tonight she had his complete and devoted attention…

"Oh, Data…" She gasped and moaned low as he put his newly realized body inside of hers, and began with a steady, even pace. It never satisfied her, but he always started out on the slower side, more of a teaser than anything. But she quickly requested of him soon after, "More, dear, please…"

She had stayed at a 3% peak for most of their first year of marriage, and for some time into the second. Lately though, he found that she had occasionally started testing that limit a bit. The last few times they had been together, she had bumped it up to 4%...

Most of the time she didn't let it bother her, but sometimes she would get a little embarrassed. She had told Data the last time, after he inquired about her increasing his speed and power functions with her, 'I don't know, I guess I just feel more passionate with you than any other guy before…'

He was determined to make her feel even more passionate about him tonight…

He leaned down close to her ear, and whispered in an extra manly voice. "Does it excite you sexually, knowing we are about to attempt to create a human offspring together?"

She paused, and snorted into a quick laugh, before reaching up and breathing back into his hear, "Dear, I think you meant to say, 'Does it make you hot, knowing we're gonna make a baby together?'"

Ah, right. It was best to keep dialogue simple during lovemaking. And admittedly, from the shiver that just ran down his spine at the throaty way she had said that, it was obvious she was on to something…

"Does that 'make you hot', dear?" He amended right away, pushing deeper into her body, and steadily increasing speed.

"Aah, yes…" She confirmed, widening her legs and digging her fingernails into his back. Luckily he could feel no pain there, only the pressure. It was like her fingers were the legs of a very heavy, chubby spider, eight uniform points. Probably not what other people would consider sexy in any way, but to him it was enticing and intriguing… When his gentle lover started losing herself so fully to his techniques that she started to get rough without even realizing it – That was when things really started to get interesting…

Deep inside, he paused, rolling his hips up and pressing against the wall of her sex. She gasped, moaned low, and dug her fingers against him deeper, "OH, GOD-! Oh god, Data, PLEASE…!"

He couldn't keep the smirk from stretching out the corner of his lip. "Please what, dear…?"

She hugged his torso to her as tight as she could. "Mmm, please, Data… I want you to feel what I'm feeling now…"

So close. "Hmm, that sounds a lot like what I want to hear…"

Exasperated, she leaned her lips in close to his ear, and hissed, " _DATA_..." But then she quickly switched to an extra gentle whisper, "Please…"

Suddenly she leaned in and nipped at the lobe of his ear, pinching it with her canine teeth. It gave him an extra thrilling little emotion, a rise in static and excess energy in his gut, something close to those 'butterflies in the stomach' some humans talked about, surely…

Then his cheeks started to build up heat as she quickly released the little piece of synthetic flesh, and placed a soft, warm little kiss, just past the point of his slim sideburns, and breathed into his ear, ghosting the slight wetness she had left there, "I want you to come too, Data. Inside me. Now…"

He smiled fully, and braced himself within her embrace. "Releasing spermatozoa, activating pleasure sensors…"

As soon as it was said, it was done, and as soon as it was done, he began to crumple and buckle, holding onto her for any sense of stability. Immediate sensory overload, but it was too damn good to care. Warm, hot, wet, slimy, slick. Pulsing, squeezing. Alive, and so in love…

He gasped loud and ragged, "AH… Oh, my GOD…"

The subject of divinity was one he found as fascinating as anything else, but he 'took it with an enormous grain of salt', as the human saying went. However, at that particular moment, for no reason he could ascertain, that just seemed like 100% the correct thing to be saying…

And when she heard that, she began to gasp too, and reached to her sex, rubbing her clitoris and the edges of his pleasure sensor technology, simultaneously…

He swallowed at nothing, feeling the massive amounts of pent-up energy starting to drop swiftly and drastically, pooling into her. "Ah… Ah… S… So good…" His language processor seemed to be stalling for just a few seconds there, but that was fine, he didn't really need to be focusing on vocalizing when sensations like these were coursing through him, anyways…

"Mmm… Mm-hmm…" She agreed languidly, her eyes closed as she rode her own wave of pleasure against him…

He recovered from the experience, hugging her tight. Not quite 'possessively', but possessed, by and with her. She had promised to belong to him, and he to her, until death parted them. He hoped for many, many more years to come of their blissful union…

"Deactivating pleasure sensors…" He finally mumbled, letting out breath of exertion, even though he didn't feel tired at all. Energy was always easy to regenerate after depletion, after all. No 'egg breakfast' needed for him to get back on his feet. Still she apparently appreciated the show he made of it, because she smiled up at him, her eyes half-lidded but still sparkling…

He reached down, giving her customary post-coitus kiss. She pecked back up at him, then mentioned to him as she lazily settled back against the bed, "I suppose now, all there is left to do is wish all our little potential children, 'Good luck'!"

He snorted out a smile of amusement, and looked down at her belly. Rubbing it in circles as he withdrew, he stated quite seriously, "Good luck, Geordi's sperm. May one of you reach your destination safe and strong."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It turned out not to be quite that easy. The first month went by without success, so in order to maximize their efforts, Data began tracking and making note of his wife's ovulation cycle, which of course drove her absolutely insane. But if nothing else you could never fault Data's perfect calculations, and by the next couple of months they had succeeded in their efforts.

The first few months were very nervous for her, but with Data there to ensure her health and comfort, she was coming along fine.

By the time she had reached the middle of her pregnancy, Tasha had reached the end of hers, and had given birth to a strong and healthy son, whom she and Geordi named Jacques. All four of them were very close friends by then, so the whole extended family came together to witness the reveal of the second child's sex.

Pressing an ultrasound to her rounded belly, Doctor Crusher took a brief look around before proclaiming surely and proudly, "Well, congratulations Data, Kembyr… And congratulations female gender! We have a daughter on the way!"

Kembyr of course hadn't cared about the gender as long as they were healthy, but she quickly noticed that her husband seemed to be deep in thought. "Data…?"

He quickly shook his head, snapping out of it. "I… Must admit, I was a little nervous that I might feel sad if it was a daughter. I am not disappointed at all, but I worried that it might remind me of the pain of losing Lal… I do feel some slight ache remembering her, however… I am very happy too, knowing I will once again be blessed with a daughter."

Tasha butted in then, to cover up for Data's unintended awkwardness. "Well, I know I'M happy you're having a daughter! Now I don't have to go through all those awful pregnancy pains again to give Jacques a sister! So thank you very much for your service, Mrs. Lieutenant Commander Data~"

Kembyr giggled and nodded, "Of course, it was an honor."

Geordi clapped his hands in excitement. "Alright! So now, have you guys thought about names yet?"

"Oh I'm sure Data's thought of at least a few thousand!" Doctor Crusher supplied, amused.

Data nodded back to her assumption seriously. "Indeed I have. However, I am of the strong opinion that whoever creates a child should be the one to name it. I created Lal, therefore I named her. But since Kembyr has gone through the pains of creating this child, I believe she should have the honor of naming her."

Kembyr blinked in surprise at that, a little bit put on the spot. "Oh… Well, let me think a minute…" She thought for exactly seventeen seconds before she thought of something. "Well, if Data doesn't mind, I think it would be nice to name her something similar to Lal, to honor her elder sister, so… How about Layla? I always thought that was a really pretty name. Oh! But, we should look up the meaning first! Sometimes names are very pretty but they turn out to have horrible meanings. Like 'Mary', it means 'Bitter', or 'Cassandra', which means 'Doom'!" So she quickly requested, "Computer, what is the meaning of the name 'Layla'?"

The computer immediately responded, "Layla. Origin: Arabic. Meaning: Night, or alternatively, Dark Beauty."

Kembyr quickly glanced at Geordi. Then glanced very quickly away again. "Wait… Oh my god. I SWEAR I didn't know!"

But Geordi only laughed. "That is quite a coincidence! But its fine, if you still like it, I think it's a very lovely name. And I mean, well, statistically speaking, she probably will be a dark beauty!"

Kembyr was already starting to blush, but then Data decided to quip, "And we did create her at night, so it is extra fitting."

She went from pink to red in no time flat. "DATA-!"

He only blinked at her, feigning the ignorance that had once been genuine. It was humorous to him sometimes. "What? We did!"

Geordi and Tasha both laughed, but still, Data was not quite satisfied. His humor needed an upgrade, he decided. Time to install a Dad Joke Program.

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Layla Liberty Goodwin was born, with only a few minor hang-ups, February 1st the following year. She was a more than healthy 8 pounds and 8 ounces, accounting for the slight difficulty in birthing her, but all was well as soon as mother saw the fruit of her effort, indeed, a little dark beauty with black curls of hair, born in the middle of the night, not quite an hour past midnight.

Definitely one of those 'so happy you cry' moments, Data quickly realized once he got to hold her for himself. So much happiness, love, and pride. Mostly pride for the labors of his wife and the mother of his child, but even though the tiny human hadn't done anything more in this world besides breathe, eat, poop and cry, he was still immensely proud of her too.

They had so many joys seeing her grow up. They gave her lots of love, and lots of toys and games to stimulate her growth. All kinds, except for one. No dolls. They had something special in mind for her, and they didn't want her growing up thinking something that looked like a bit like a doll was merely a toy…

They waited until she was a little older, and in the meantime Data perfected his techniques. Kembyr requested a sister for their little girl, though she was perfectly fine if the child decided to change that later.

Despite making the body on the small size, in order to compliment and match Layla's growth, he ended up making her look a little too much like Lal at first, and asked his wife to make some changes to make her more individual. She chose to make her short dark tresses curly like Layla's, and made her eyes blue-green like hers. She also made her skin just slightly paler like Data's, and her lips the color of strawberries.

She seemed very happy with the end result, fawning over the little android girl's design. "Oh, I love her so much already! She's such a darling little thing, I could just eat her up like a cookie crumb!" She even completed the statement by pinching her synthetic cheeks. "So Data-dear, have you thought of what you want to call her?"

He smiled. "Actually, I believe I may have just thought of something…"

When she heard he idea, she whole-heartedly approved. Now it was time to tell Layla she was getting a sister, and to activate said sister and welcome her to her first birthday…

First to prepare their firstborn, now six years of age, as of last week. She had been told to expect something big today, and she was very excited. But her parents were being much more serious than she had been expecting…

"Layla…" Her father began, holding one of her hands while her mother held the other. "Do you remember how Mama and Godfather Geordi have told you before that Papa Data is not a human, but an android?"

She swung their arms as she walked with them to Papa's lab. "You're like a human, but you're made of different kinds of parts, and you didn't come out of a Mama's tummy like humans do?"

"Very good." He nodded. "And you remember how we told you before that we'd like to give you a sister someday? Well… Papa has been building a very special android. An android sister, to complete our family."

She immediately started to grin and bounced as they walked, gasping, "Oh my gosh, is she finally ready?!"

…Apparently someone had caught on early. "Yes, Layla. I believe she is finally ready…"

She let go of their hands and ran right into the lab as soon as the doors swished open, gasping more at the sight of her sister, even though she was still inert.

But Data purposefully stalled before activating her, standing next to the 'sleeping' little android. "Now Layla, I need you to calm down. This is very serious. Your sister will be a living being that you will need to help guide in life. Do you think you are prepared for that?"

She sobered up and nodded very grimly, holding her hands together in front of her lap. "Yes, Papa! I promise I will love her very much and help her whenever she needs me! I will help her to be a good girl, like me!"

Data grinned, and chuckled a little. "Of course. I am quite sure you will, dear daughter. Alright then. I will now activate your sister. Once I do, I will first introduce her to herself, and then I will introduce myself and both of you. Are you two ready?"

Mother and daughter nodded eagerly, so he set right to it.

After tinkering for a moment, she slowly opened her eyes. Almost the same color as her mother, but with flecks of golden-amber, reminiscent of her father. Like a lake with gold at the bottom…

He bowed politely to the girl. She performed a programmed curtsey in response, holding up her burgundy dress daintily. Data began to speak to her, "Welcome to your life, little one. I am your father, Data. This is your mother, Kembyr Goodwin, and your sister Layla Liberty. We have picked out a name and gender for you, but you may choose another if you wish. Before I proceed with your name, are you satisfied with your current form and gender?"

The child looked down at herself. After a brief glance over she quickly smiled and nodded, her dark curls bouncing. "Yes, father. I am satisfied. I like this form. I like being a girl. Please, proceed with my name."

He marveled at her little speech. Her first words. He went on, almost a little choked up, "I… I have decided to name you Mariem Miette, if you like it. Mariem means 'beloved', the same meaning my as my first daughter Lal, for you are just as beloved. And Miette, which is French for Crumb, because you mother claimed you were 'so cute, she could eat you up like a cookie crumb'."

He had programmed her to recognize this and most other human sayings he knew of, minus the inappropriate ones of course. So she knew to grin and giggle in response. "You're silly, mother… And look, father, she's blushing!"

Kembyr was indeed blushing, and she rolled her eyes for good measure. "You really named her after what I said…? I mean, it is cute…" She admitted, not wanting to discourage it, just embarrassed.

Data shrugged. "Well, I will have, if she decides to accept it."

Mariem did so immediately. "Yes, Father. I love the name you've chosen. It's very pretty! Almost as pretty as my sister's name! Layla Liberty, you've got the prettiest name ever!"

Watching very quietly, much more quietly than normal, Layla suddenly rushed forth, and hugged her sister tight. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I love you so much! You're the nicest prettiest smartest sister ever and I'll love you forever and ever, and your name is super pretty too, Mariem Miette!"

The accumulation of Layla's rant ended in a rather large shout of excitement, but she couldn't care, and neither could her parents.

Data let them have a minute to gush before he finally interrupted again, clearing his throat of nothing to get their attention back on him. "Also, girls… Your mother and I have a special gift prepared for both of you to celebrate Mariem's first 'birthday'."

Mariem seemed more excited and curious about that news than willing to bother pointing out that she had not been born, as he would have. Her programming was already so much more sophisticated than his or Lal's at her stage of development. It was so very gratifying, both as a job well done and as a father, as a personal wish to his daughter to do better than him... It was… 'Heartening', one might say, perhaps.

So he made haste to the hiding spot in a nearby locker where he and Kembyr each pulled out a very fancy and well-crafted doll, made to resemble each sister. Kembyr took the Layla-doll, in a black dress trimmed with red, and Data took the Mariem-doll, who wore a black dress trimmed with gold. Then Data proceeded to give his Mariem-doll to Layla, and Kembyr have her Layla-doll to Mariem.

"We are sure you two will probably be close to inseparable." Data mentioned surely, and not just because the sisters were already so close, but because he had made darn sure to get it in writing from the Federation that he would be allowed to keep his daughter with him for at least ten years, for teaching and bonding, and that after that she could choose whatever she wanted to do and where she wanted to go.

"However." He added, "If there should come a day when you need to be apart, I hope that you will cherish these as reminders to you, of both your relationship to each other, and to us..."

Each girl took her doll, and hugged it tight. Never in all the galaxy had two toys ever been kept so immaculate...

And so their happy little family lived long, and prospered. Data's daughters never ceased to make him prouder and prouder every day, and he and his faithful, loving wife went on to have many adventures with their friends. They located and eradicated a world-ending reproductive parasite, took down the most dangerous rape-gangs in the galaxy, and and did it all while remembering to get their children off to bed at a proper hour.

Ever the odd couple they were used to answering occasional questions about their family. However, there was one question that had always been, and always would be forbidden... And that, of course, was, "So... How did you two meet?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

THE END!

(( A.N. LMAO. Well that was fun! Hope you guys liked it, and please leave me a line if you did! ))


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